Short-term effects of highly-bioavailable curcumin for treating knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study

Abstract

BackgroundWe previously developed a surface-controlled water-dispersible form of curcumin and named it Theracurmin® (Theracurmin; Theravalues, Tokyo, Japan). The area under the blood concentration–time curve of Theracurmin in humans was 27-fold higher than that of curcumin powder. We determined the clinical effects of orally administered Theracurmin in patients with knee osteoarthritis during 8 weeks of treatment.MethodsFifty patients with knee osteoarthritis of Kellgren–Lawrence grade II or III and who were aged more than 40 years were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, prospective clinical study. Placebo or Theracurmin containing 180 mg/day of curcumin was administered orally every day for 8 weeks. To monitor adverse events, blood biochemistry analyses were performed before and after 8 weeks of each intervention. The patients’ knee symptoms were evaluated at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks by the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure, the knee pain visual analog scale (VAS), the knee scoring system of the Japanese Orthopedic Association, and the need for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.ResultsAt 8 weeks after treatment initiation, knee pain VAS scores were significantly lower in the Theracurmin group than in the placebo group, except in the patients with initial VAS scores of 0.15 or less. Theracurmin lowered the celecoxib dependence significantly more than placebo. No major side effects were observed with Theracurmin treatment.ConclusionTheracurmin shows modest potential for the treatment of human knee osteoarthritis.

Effectiveness of curcuminoids in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized clinical trials

“…37 We also excluded one study because there was no relevant outcome 38 and one (abstract) because it was a duplicate of another excluded study. 39 Finally, we included seven studies [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] with a total of 797 participants. Key details of the included studies are shown in Table 1.…”

“…In four studies the proportion of participants with bilateral knee OA ranged from 37% 44 to 100%. 45 Three studies 42,43,46 did not report the proportion of participants with bilateral knee OA.…”

“…The duration of symptoms was approximately 20 months in one study 40 and 12 months in another 41 ; a third study 42 included participants with at least 6 months duration of symptoms. Four studies [43][44][45][46] did not report the duration of OA symptoms for their study participants. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics of participants between the intervention and control groups (Table S1).…”

“…Five assessed pain using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) criteria, five used a visual assessment scale (VAS), and one study 44 used the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure (JKOM) and the knee scoring system of the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA). In one study, 40 the assessment tool was the 0-10 point numerical rating scale (NRS).…”

“…Five studies [42][43][44][45][46] used a placebo as comparator, while ibuprofen was used as the comparator in two studies. 40,41 Rescue medications used were tramadol, 41 acetaminophen, 42 celecoxib or pain relief patches 44 and naproxen.…”