Herbal formulation "turmeric extract, black pepper, and ginger" versus Naproxen for chronic knee osteoarthritis: A randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial

Heidari-Beni M, Moravejolahkami AR, Gorgian P, Askari G, Tarrahi MJ, Bahreini-Esfahani N · Phytotherapy Research

Serum prostaglandin E2 fell significantly in both arms (p<0.001) with no difference between them, so the herbal combination matched naproxen on the only endpoint measured.

Population

Adults with grade 2-3 knee osteoarthritis, Iran

Intervention

Turmeric extract with black pepper and ginger twice daily for 4 weeks

Comparator

Naproxen

Limitations

PGE2 is the sole reported outcome — no pain or function endpoint is reported — and there is no placebo arm, so equivalence to naproxen could reflect two ineffective arms. n=60, 4 weeks, three active botanicals so nothing is attributable to curcumin.