Effect of Turmacin supplementation on joint discomfort and functional outcome among healthy participants - A randomized placebo-controlled trial

Objective: Curcuma longa has been widely used in Ayurveda for its medicinal properties and Turmacin was developed from C. longa as a standardized extract containing turmerosaccharides. In this clinical trial, the effect of Turmacin on knee joint discomfort in healthy adults subjected to strenuous physical activity was evaluated. Design: Double-blind, triple-arm, parallel-group, randomized placebo-controlled trial. Setting: Healthy participants from an urban tertiary care teaching hospital. Intervention: Healthy participants were randomized in 1:1:1 ratio to receive either Turmacin 0.5 g/1 g or placebo once daily for 84 days. The participants were subjected to 10-minute strenuous exercise. Outcome measures: Time to initial pain, final pain score on a visual analogue scale, range of movement (ROM) of knee and the force of contractions of muscles around the knee joint. Results: A total of n=90 participants were recruited. The mean final pain scores were significantly lower in the Turmacin 1 g and Turmacin 0.5 g when compared with the placebo from day-7 and day-5 onwards respectively. The survival analysis consistently showed a decreased hazard for early onset of pain in both the Turmacin groups. On day-84, the difference in mean ROM between Turmacin 0.5 g and placebo was 4.79 degrees (p=0.008) and that for Turmacin 1 g and placebo was 2.34 degrees (p=0.306). The difference in muscle force for isokinetic contractions of the quadriceps at angular velocities of 120 and 180 was significant between Turmacin 0.5 g and placebo (p=0.002 and p=0.005 respectively) while that for Turmacin 1 g & Turmacin 0.5 g (p=0.206 and p=0.414 respectively) and Turmacin 1 g & Placebo (p=0.046 and p=0.037) were not significant. However, in the within group analysis participants in Turmacin 1 g group had better preserved muscle functions than Turmacin 0.5 g group at angular velocities of 120 and 180 when compared with placebo. Conclusion: Turmacin (0.5 g and 1 g) was efficacious when compared to placebo in increasing the pain threshold and knee ROM in healthy participants with minor adverse events.