Nano‐curcumin supplementation in patients with mild and moderate acute pancreatitis: A randomized, placebo‐controlled trial

Abstract

We aimed to investigate whether nano‐curcumin as an anti‐inflammatory agent is effective in patients with mild and moderate AP. This study was a double‐blind, parallel‐arm randomized controlled trial conducted at Taleghani hospital, Tehran, Iran. Eligible subjects with a diagnosis of mild and moderate AP were randomly assigned to receive either two doses of nano‐curcumin (40 mg) or placebo (control) daily for 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was gastrointestinal (GI) ward length of stay (LOS). A total of 42 patients were randomly assigned to receive either nano‐curcumin (n = 21) or placebo (n = 21). Compared with placebo, nano‐curcumin supplementation decreased hospital LOS (RR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.502–0.894; p = 0.006), reduced the need for analgesics over time (OR = 0.576, 95% CI: 0.421–0.790; p = 0.001), and increased overall appetite score over the study period (β = 0.104, SE: 0.053; p = 0.049). No adverse effects or mortality were reported and there was no withdrawal during the study period. The results indicate that nano‐curcumin as an adjuvant therapy is safe and may reduce GI ward LOS, analgesics requirement, and improve the overall appetite in patients with mild and moderate AP. Future multi‐center trials with larger sample sizes are required to verify these findings. Clinical trial registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04989166.