Randomized double-blind crossover study of the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee

Schumacher HR, Pullman-Mooar S, Gupta SR, Dinnella JE, Kim R, McHugh MP · Osteoarthritis and Cartilage

The only randomized trial of a cherry product against a joint endpoint. WOMAC fell significantly on cherry juice (p < 0.01) and not on placebo (p = 0.46), but the between-treatment difference — the comparison the design exists to make — was not significant (p = 0.16). hsCRP did fall on cherry juice relative to placebo (p < 0.01), and the size of that fall tracked the WOMAC improvement (p < 0.01). Walking time, acetaminophen use, plasma urate and creatinine were unchanged.

Population

Non-diabetic adults with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2-3 knee osteoarthritis

Intervention

Two 8 oz bottles of tart cherry juice daily for 6 weeks

Comparator

Placebo beverage, crossover with a 1-week washout

Limitations

Small, single-centre, 6-week periods. The primary symptom comparison is null between arms; the within-arm improvement is the number that gets quoted, and it is the one a placebo-controlled design is built to discount. Full text is paywalled, so the funding source and any carryover analysis could not be read — the outcome above is written only from the between-group statistics the abstract states outright.