Nirmala Medical Centre, Muvattupuzha, Kerala, India.
Phytother Res. 2012 Nov;26(11):1719-25. doi: 10.1002/ptr.4639. Epub 2012 Mar 9.
Curcumin is known to possess potent antiinflammatory and antiarthritic properties. This pilot clinical study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of curcumin alone, and in combination with diclofenac sodium in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Forty-five patients diagnosed with RA were randomized into three groups with patients receiving curcumin (500 mg) and diclofenac sodium (50 mg) alone or their combination. The primary endpoints were reduction in Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28. The secondary endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for reduction in tenderness and swelling of joint scores. Patients in all three treatment groups showed statistically significant changes in their DAS scores. Interestingly, the curcumin group showed the highest percentage of improvement in overall DAS and ACR scores (ACR 20, 50 and 70) and these scores were significantly better than the patients in the diclofenac sodium group. More importantly, curcumin treatment was found to be safe and did not relate with any adverse events. Our study provides the first evidence for the safety and superiority of curcumin treatment in patients with active RA, and highlights the need for future large-scale trials to validate these findings in patients with RA and other arthritic conditions.
姜黄素具有很强的抗炎和抗关节炎特性。这项初步临床研究评估了姜黄素单独使用和与双氯芬酸钠联合使用对活动期类风湿关节炎（RA）患者的安全性和有效性。45 名被诊断为 RA 的患者被随机分为三组，分别接受姜黄素（500mg）和双氯芬酸钠（50mg）单独或联合治疗。主要终点是疾病活动评分（DAS）28 的降低。次要终点包括美国风湿病学会（ACR）对关节压痛和肿胀评分降低的标准。所有三组治疗组的患者 DAS 评分均有统计学意义的变化。有趣的是，姜黄素组在整体 DAS 和 ACR 评分（ACR 20、50 和 70）方面显示出最高的改善百分比，这些评分明显优于双氯芬酸钠组的患者。更重要的是，姜黄素治疗被发现是安全的，与任何不良事件无关。我们的研究为姜黄素治疗活动期 RA 患者的安全性和优越性提供了首个证据，并强调需要进行大规模临床试验来验证这些发现对 RA 和其他关节炎患者的有效性。
