Key clinical point: Curcumin consumption for 8 weeks as a part of an integrated approach could help modulate metabolic factors, inflammation, and adiposity in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) .
Major finding: After 8 weeks, insulin resistance, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and triglycerides improved significantly in the curcumin supplementation vs. placebo group (all P < .05). Moreover, curcumin supplementation significantly decreased mean weight, body mass index, and waist circumference by 0.45% ( P < .001), 0.57% ( P = .003), and 0.23% ( P = .008), respectively, vs. no significant changes observed in placebo group.
Study details: The findings come from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial including 44 women with RA randomly assigned to either curcumin supplementation (500 mg/day; n = 22) or placebo (n = 22) for 8 weeks.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Research Vice-Chancellor and Nutrition Research Center of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Pourhabibi-Zarandi F et al. Effects of curcumin supplementation on metabolic parameters, inflammatory factors and obesity values in women with rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Phytother Res. 2022 (Feb 17). Doi: 10.1002/ptr.7422