Zingiber and Acmella Against Knee Osteoarthritis

The Use of a New Food-grade Lecithin Formulation of Highly Standardized Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) and Acmella Oleracea Extracts for the Treatment of Pain and Inflammation in a Group of Subjects With Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis

One-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design in which primary outcomes were: a) the evaluation of pain intensity, by a 30-days Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and b) the assessment of knee function by Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index and by Tegner Lysholm Knee Scoring collected at baseline, at 15 and 30 days after treatment. Secondary outcomes were the evaluation: c) of Health-related quality of life, by the ShortForm36, d) of inflammation by C-reactive protein and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, and e) of body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measured at baseline and 30 days after treatment.

To evaluate the safety and the efficacy on pain and inflammation of a new food-grade lecithin formulation of standardized extracts of Zingiber officinale and Acmella oleracea.

Inclusion Criteria:

• established moderate knee OA (classification 1-3 according to Kellgren and Lawrence system for classification of knee OA)
• Lequesne Index of 6-10; 3) Body Mass Index (BMI) between 22 and 30 kg/m2
• aged 40-75
• no drugs for OA, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Exclusion Criteria:

• diabetes, metabolic disease, or neoplasia, as well as the patients with disabling diseases that could directly affect muscle weakness (such as neurological diseases, hip fractures, or amputations)