Bio-optimized Curcuma longa extract is efficient on knee osteoarthritis pain: a double-blind multicenter randomized...

Area of Science:

• Osteoarthritis Research
• Natural Product Therapeutics
• Biomarker Analysis

Background:

• Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint disease causing pain and disability.
• Current treatments for OA have limitations, driving research into alternative therapies.
• Curcuma longa extract (BCL) is being investigated for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties in OA management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy and safety of two doses of bio-optimized Curcuma longa extract (BCL) against a placebo in managing symptomatic knee OA.
• To evaluate BCL's impact on disease activity, cartilage degradation biomarkers, pain, and functional outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A 3-month, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 150 patients with knee OA.
• Co-primary endpoints included Patient Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PGADA) and serum sColl2-1 (cartilage degradation biomarker).
• Secondary endpoints comprised pain (VAS), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and analgesic consumption.

Main Results:

• Both low and high doses of BCL demonstrated a greater reduction in PGADA compared to placebo.
• Significant pain reduction was observed at 90 days in both BCL groups versus placebo (p=0.018).
• While adverse events were similar across groups, the high-dose BCL group reported more product-related adverse events (p=0.012).

Conclusions:

• BCL appears safe and well-tolerated for knee OA management, with no severe adverse effects noted.
• Efficacy analysis indicated positive trends for disease activity and OA biomarkers.
• The study demonstrated a rapid and significant decrease in knee OA pain with BCL treatment.