Comparative clinical trial of S-adenosylmethionine versus nabumetone for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: an 8-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, Phase IV study in Korean patients

Kim J, Lee EY, Koh EM, Cha HS, Yoo B, Lee CK, Lee YJ, Ryu H, Lee KH, Song YW · Clinical Therapeutics

Pain intensity on a visual analogue scale fell 13.0 mm (SD 20.8) on SAMe and 15.7 mm (SD 20.9) on nabumetone, both significant from baseline (P < 0.001) and not significantly different between arms. Global assessments and WOMAC scores also improved in both arms without separating. Adverse events occurred in 35.8% (24 of 67) on SAMe and 31.3% (21 of 67) on nabumetone.

Population

134 Korean patients with knee osteoarthritis by American College of Rheumatology criteria, mean age about 63, after a 2-week washout

Intervention

S-adenosylmethionine 400 mg three times daily for 8 weeks

Comparator

Nabumetone 1,000 mg once daily

Limitations

No placebo arm, eight weeks, and 134 patients — too few to establish equivalence between two active treatments. Rescue acetaminophen was used by roughly 80% of both arms, which compresses any difference. Full text was not retrievable.