Garlic Extract in Rheumatological Diseases: A Systematic Review

Garlic and garlic extract (GE) are highly consumed traditional and popular food spices. They are reported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and infection-protecting properties. The aim of this study was to review the use of GE in various rheumatic diseases.

PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and SciELO were searched for articles on GE and rheumatic diseases between 1966 and May 2024. Four articles were found, including 176 patients. The investigated diseases were rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n = 3) and osteoarthritis (OA) (n = 1). Age varied from 51.06 ± 13.8 to 58.9 ± 7.5 years old, and female gender was the only one included in all studies. The disease duration was 6.58 ± 7.75 years. The GE dosage ranged from 600 mg to 1,000 mg/day. The follow-up ranged from 4 to 12 weeks. All articles demonstrated improvements in the diverse rheumatic disease parameters (e.g., pain, function, disease activity, tender and swollen joints, stiffness, and WOMAC) and reduced inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor, malondialdehyde).

GE is a safe and well-tolerated therapy for RA and OA. However, studies with more participants are needed to confirm, replicate, and further explore the topic.