Abstract
Introduction: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a novel curcumin formulation, HydroCurc®, for alleviating joint pain and improving quality of life in adults. Method: A randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on adults aged 25–70 years reporting joint pain. Eighty participants received either curcumin or a placebo daily for 2 weeks. The primary outcome was a self-assessed reduction in pain as assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, completed daily in the morning and evening. Quality of life was assessed by the RAND 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Results: VAS pain scores reduced over the 2 weeks of treatment in both groups. Morning VAS scores were significantly reduced from baseline in the curcumin and placebo groups from day 6 and 12, respectively. Morning VAS scores were significantly lower in the curcumin group compared to the placebo group for days 11, 13, and 14 (p < 0.05). Evening VAS scores were significantly reduced from baseline in the curcumin and placebo groups from day 5 and 6, respectively. There were no differences in the evening VAS scores, SF-36 nor POMS between groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that HydroCurc® is an effective option for reducing morning joint pain. Future studies would benefit from investigating whether long-term supplementation and/or a split dose can show further improvements in pain scores.
References
1.
Havelin
J
, King
T
. Mechanisms underlying bone and joint pain
. Curr Osteoporos Rep
. 2018
;16
(6
):763
–71
. .2.
Grime
J
, Richardson
JC
, Ong
BN
. Perceptions of joint pain and feeling well in older people who reported being healthy: a qualitative study
. Br J Gen Pract
. 2010
;60
(577
):597
–603
. .3.
Loeser
RF
. Age-related changes in the musculoskeletal system and the development of osteoarthritis
. Clin Geriatr Med
. 2010
;26
(3
):371
–86
. .4.
Neogi
T
. The epidemiology and impact of pain in osteoarthritis
. Osteoarthr Cartil
. 2013
;21
(9
):1145
–53
. .5.
Amoako
AO
, Pujalte
GGA
. Osteoarthritis in young, active, and athletic individuals
. Clin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord
. 2014
;7
:27
–32
. .6.
Shirtliff
ME
, Mader
JT
. Acute septic arthritis
. Clin Microbiol Rev
. 2002
;15
:527
–44
.7.
Bullock
J
, Rizvi
SAA
, Saleh
AM
, Ahmed
SS
, Do
DP
, Ansari
RA
, Rheumatoid arthritis: a brief overview of the treatment
. Med Princ Pract
. 2018
;27
(6
):501
–7
. .8.
Kidd
BL
, Langford
RM
, Wodehouse
T
. Arthritis and pain. Current approaches in the treatment of arthritic pain
. Arthritis Res Ther
. 2007
;9
(3
):214
. .9.
Buckwalter
JA
, Anderson
DD
, Brown
TD
, Tochigi
Y
, Martin
JA
. The roles of mechanical stresses in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis: implications for treatment of joint injuries
. Cartilage
. 2013
;4
:286
–94
. .10.
Schaible
HG
, Richter
F
, Ebersberger
A
, Boettger
MK
, Vanegas
H
, Natura
G
, Joint pain
. Exp Brain Res
. 2009
;196
(1
):153
–62
. .11.
Kidd
BL
, Morris
VH
, Urban
L
. Pathophysiology of joint pain
. Ann Rheum Dis
. 1996
;55
(5
):276
–83
. .12.
Laine
L
. Gastrointestinal effects of NSAIDs and coxibs
. J Pain Symptom Manage
. 2003
;25
(2 Suppl
):S32
–40
. .13.
Palmer
T
, Toombs
JD
. Managing joint pain in primary care
. J Am Board Fam Pract
. 2004
;17 Suppl
:S32
–42
. .14.
Moore
N
, Pollack
C
, Butkerait
P
. Adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interactions with over-the-counter NSAIDs
. Ther Clin Risk Manag
. 2015
;11
:1061
–75
. .15.
Prasad
S
, Aggarwal
BB
. Turmeric, the golden spice: from traditional medicine to modern medicine
. In: Benzie
IFF
, Wachtel-Galor
S
, editors. Herbal medicine: biomolecular and clinical aspects
. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL
: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis
; 2011
. Chapter 13.16.
Henrotin
Y
, Priem
F
, Mobasheri
A
. Curcumin: a new paradigm and therapeutic opportunity for the treatment of osteoarthritis: curcumin for osteoarthritis management
. Springerplus
. 2013
;2
(1
):56
. .17.
Perkins
K
, Sahy
W
, Beckett
RD
. Efficacy of curcuma for treatment of osteoarthritis
. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med
. 2017
;22
(1
):156
–65
. .18.
Daily
JW
, Yang
M
, Park
S
. Efficacy of turmeric extracts and curcumin for alleviating the symptoms of joint arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
. J Med Food
. 2016
;19
(8
):717
–29
. .19.
Chin
KY
. The spice for joint inflammation: anti-inflammatory role of curcumin in treating osteoarthritis
. Drug Des Devel Ther
. 2016
;10
:3029
–42
. .20.
Zahan
OM
, Serban
O
, Gherman
C
, Fodor
D
. The evaluation of oxidative stress in osteoarthritis
. Med Pharm Rep
. 2020
;93
(1
):12
–22
. .21.
Ansari
MY
, Ahmad
N
, Haqqi
TM
. Oxidative stress and inflammation in osteoarthritis pathogenesis: role of polyphenols
. Biomed Pharmacother
. 2020
;129
:110452
. .22.
Briskey
D
, Sax
A
, Mallard
AR
, Rao
A
. Increased bioavailability of curcumin using a novel dispersion technology system (LipiSperse®)
. Eur J Nutr
. 2019
;58
(5
):2087
–97
. .23.
Hawker
GA
, Mian
S
, Kendzerska
T
, French
M
. Measures of adult pain: Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain), Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRS Pain), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS), Short Form-36 Bodily Pain Scale (SF-36 BPS), and Measure of Intermittent and Constant Osteoarthritis Pain (ICOAP)
. Arthritis Care Res
. 2011
;63
(Suppl 11
):S240
–52
. .24.
Javadi
M
, Khadem Haghighian
H
, Goodarzy
S
, Abbasi
M
, Nassiri-Asl
M
. Effect of curcumin nanomicelle on the clinical symptoms of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial
. Int J Rheum Dis
. 2019
;22
(10
):1857
–62
. .25.
Belcaro
G
, Cesarone
MR
, Dugall
M
, Pellegrini
L
, Ledda
A
, Grossi
MG
, Efficacy and safety of Meriva®, a curcumin-phosphatidylcholine complex, during extended administration in osteoarthritis patients
. Altern Med Rev
. 2010
;15
(4
):337
–44
.26.
Wu
J
, Lv
M
, Zhou
Y
. Efficacy and side effect of curcumin for the treatment of osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
. Pak J Pharm Sci
. 2019
;32
(1
):43
–51
.27.
Mobasheri
A
, Henrotin
Y
, Biesalski
HK
, Shakibaei
M
. Scientific evidence and rationale for the development of curcumin and resveratrol as nutraceutricals for joint health
. Int J Mol Sci
. 2012
;13
(4
):4202
–32
. .28.
Haroyan
A
, Mukuchyan
V
, Mkrtchyan
N
, Minasyan
N
, Gasparyan
S
, Sargsyan
A
, Efficacy and safety of curcumin and its combination with boswellic acid in osteoarthritis: a comparative, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
. BMC Complement Altern Med
. 2018
;918
(1
):7
. .29.
Vase
L
, Wartolowska
K
. Pain, placebo, and test of treatment efficacy: a narrative review
. Br J Anaesth
. 2019
;123
(2
):e254
–62
. .30.
Gerriets
V
, Anderson
J
, Nappe
TM
. Acetaminophen
. StatPearls
. Treasure Island, FL
: StatPearls Publishing
; 2020
.31.
Cohen
B
, Ruth
LJ
, Preuss
CV
. Opioid Analgesics
. StatPearls
. Treasure Island, FL
: StatPearls Publishing
; 2020
.32.
Hewlings
SJ
, Kalman
DS
. Curcumin: a review of its effects on human health
. Foods
. 2017
;6
(10
):92
. .33.
Aggarwal
BB
, Sung
B
. Pharmacological basis for the role of curcumin in chronic diseases: an age-old spice with modern targets
. Trends Pharmacol Sci
. 2009
;30
(2
):85
–94
. .34.
Sandur
SK
, Ichikawa
H
, Pandey
MK
, Kunnumakkara
AB
, Sung
B
, Sethi
G
, Role of pro-oxidants and antioxidants in the anti-inflammatory and apoptotic effects of curcumin (diferuloylmethane)
. Free Radic Biol Med
. 2007
;43
(4
):568
–80
. .35.
Kunnumakkara
AB
, Bordoloi
D
, Padmavathi
G
, Monisha
J
, Roy
NK
, Prasad
S
, Curcumin, the golden nutraceutical: multitargeting for multiple chronic diseases
. Br J Pharmacol
. 2017
;174
(11
):1325
–48
. .36.
Gupta
SC
, Patchva
S
, Aggarwal
BB
. Therapeutic roles of curcumin: lessons learned from clinical trials
. AAPS J
. 2013
;15
(1
):195
–218
. .37.
Kocaadam
B
, Şanlier
N
. Curcumin, an active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), and its effects on health
. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr
. 2017
;57
(13
):2889
–95
. .© 2022 S. Karger AG, Basel
2022
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.
