Efficacy and Safety of Turmeric Extracts for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials
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Abstract
Purpose of the review Finding appropriate pharmacological options to treat osteoarthritis (OA) remain challenging. We aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of all types of turmeric extracts for the management of knee OA. Recent findings Sixteen RCTs of up to 16 weeks duration including 1810 adults with knee OA were included. Eleven RCTs compared the efficacy of turmeric extracts with placebo and five with active comparators (NSAIDs). The overall risk bias of included RCTs was moderate. Turmeric extracts significantly reduced knee pain (SMD - 0.82, 95% CI - 1.17 to - 0.47, I 2 = 86.23%) and improved physical function (SMD - 0.75, 95% CI - 1.18 to - 0.33, I 2 = 90.05%) compared to placebo but had similar effects compared to NSAIDs. BMI was the major contributor to heterogeneity in the placebo-controlled studies (explained 37.68% and 67.24%, respectively, in the models) and modified the effects of the turmeric on pain and physical function with less improvement with higher BMI (SMD 0.26 95% CI 0.04 to 0.48; SMD 0.48 95% CI 0.21 to 0.74). No significant between-group differences were reported for either biochemical markers or imaging outcomes. Turmeric extracts had 12% fewer adverse events than NSAIDs and similar rates to placebo. Turmeric extract is a safe and effective option for the symptomatic management of knee OA, compared to placebo or NSAIDs. However, current evidence from short-term studies is heterogeneous and has moderate risk of bias leading to some uncertainty about the true effect.
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The therapeutic effects of CURs for knee OA uncovered by multiple reviews remained uncertain because reviews broadly involved trials with different agents-combined or CURs-free interventions.
“Thus far, the therapeutic effects of CURs for knee osteoarthritis (OA) uncovered by multiple reviews remained uncertain due to broadly involving trials with different agents-combined or CURs-free interventions [8, 24–26], and evidence to reveal the clinical significance of CURs alone for knee OA is insufficient.”
From Efficacy and safety of curcuminoids alone in alleviating pain and dysfunction for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2022) · cites this paper as [24]
The Background and rationale and Characteristics of interventions sections discuss turmeric-extract trials and allow some combination therapies. They do not assess earlier reviews or say that their findings were uncertain because they included combined-agent or turmeric-free interventions; searches for those limitations found no such passage. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEvidence to reveal the clinical significance of CURs alone for knee OA is insufficient.
“Thus far, the therapeutic effects of CURs for knee osteoarthritis (OA) uncovered by multiple reviews remained uncertain due to broadly involving trials with different agents-combined or CURs-free interventions [8, 24–26], and evidence to reveal the clinical significance of CURs alone for knee OA is insufficient.”
From Efficacy and safety of curcuminoids alone in alleviating pain and dysfunction for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2022) · cites this paper as [24]
The Background and rationale and Objectives sections describe a planned review of turmeric extracts for knee OA, but do not assess whether evidence for curcumin alone is clinically sufficient. The Characteristics of interventions section includes curcumin and some combination therapies; it does not say that combining different interventions made earlier reviews' findings uncertain. Searches for clinical significance, curcumin alone, and uncertainty did not locate that assessment in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.73)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLarger effect sizes with clinical significance of both pain reduction and functional promotion were observed in trials performed in Asia compared with those in other countries.
“Besides, larger effect sizes with clinical significance of both pain reduction and functional promotion were observed in trials performed in Asia compared with those in other countries, which was in accordance with the result of a recently published review by Wang et al. [24].”
From Efficacy and safety of curcuminoids alone in alleviating pain and dysfunction for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2022) · cites this paper as [24]
The passages in our copy are from a review protocol, not reported results. Its Statistical analysis and Primary and secondary outcomes sections describe planned analyses of pain and physical function, but report no comparison of effect sizes between Asian trials and trials elsewhere (searched for geographic subgroup findings and clinical significance). No page numbers are available in the copy. (LLM, conf=0.77)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Feng, J., Li, Z., Tian, L., Mu, P., Hu, Y., Xiong, F., & Ma, X. (2022) · BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies · doi:10.1186/s12906-022-03740-9 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wang, Z., Singh, A., Jones, G., Winzenberg, T., Ding, C., Chopra, A., Das, S., Danda, D., Laslett, L., & Antony, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Jehangir Hospital (IN)
- Christian Medical College, Vellore (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Antony, Benny
- ORCID
- Venue
- Current Rheumatology Reports
- Published
- 2021-01-28
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 11-11
- ISSN
- 1523-3774 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-6307
- OpenAlex
- W3121874604
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 6
- FWCI
- 0.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Current Rheumatology Reports (publishedVersion)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UTAS Research Repository (acceptedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Curcumin's Biomedical Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Pharmacological Effects of Medicinal Plants
- Keywords
- turmeric extract, knee osteoarthritis, knee pain, physical function, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, body mass index, adverse events, herbal medicine, symptom management
- MeSH terms
- Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal, Humans, Pain, Plant Extracts, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Osteoarthritis, Knee, Curcuma
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