Table 1.
Herbal preparations, plant extracts, and dietary antioxidants tested in clinical trials in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
| Therapy | Effect | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Herbal preparation | ||
| Jidabokuippo plus Hachimijiogan | Analgesic effect on patients with chronic arthritis who did not respond to conventional therapies. | [123] |
| Rose-hip | Improves general health conditions and reduces DAS-28 score in patients with RA. | [124] |
| San miao San | Analgesia in RA patients with active disease. No significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating effects. | [125] |
|
| ||
| Plant extract | ||
| Curcuma longa (turmeric) | Improves morning stiffness and walking time and reduces joint swelling in patients with RA. | [126] |
| Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi) | Analgesia in RA patients with active disease. No significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating effects. | [125] |
| Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F | Reduces disease activity in RA patients refractory to treatment. Pharmacological effect comparable to some synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. | [126–128] |
| Uncaria tomentosa (cats claw) | Alleviates joint pain in patients with osteoarthritis. | [126] |
| Zingiber officinale (ginger) | Reduces joint inflammation in patients with osteoarthritis. | [126] |
|
| ||
| Dietary supplementation | ||
| Mediterranean-type diet | Reduces DAS-28 score and inflammatory activity and improves quality of life and physical function in RA patients with active disease. | [129, 130] |
| Vitamin C in combination with antioxidant-enriched margarine | Reduces DAS-28 score and the number of swollen and painful joints in RA patients with low disease activity. No significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. | [131] |
| Vitamin E | Slightly reduces the Ritchie articular index and early morning stiffness in RA patients under treatment with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. | [132] |
| Vitamin E in combination with vitamins A and C | Analgesic effect in patients with RA. No significant anti-inflammatory effect. | [132] |
DAS-28: disease activity score of 28 joints; RA: rheumatoid arthritis.