Table 2. Characteristics of human studies about the effect of pomegranate on osteoarthritis .
| Author (date) | Country | Subjects | Intervention | Dosage | Route | Duration | Clinical Findings | Laboratory Findings | Reference |
| Khadem Haghighian et al (2020) | Iran | Female knee OA patients (n = 33 per group) | Pomegranate peel hydro alcoholic extract capsules | 1 g/day | Orally | 8 weeks | - | (1) Significant decrease in serum MDA levels compared with placebo group (2) Significant increase in SOD, GPx, and serum TAC levels compared with placebo group |
40 |
| Rafraf et al (2017) | Iran | Female knee OA patients (n = 33 per group) | Pomegranate peel hydro alcoholic extract capsules | 1 g/day | Orally | 8 weeks | (1) Significant increase in scores of KOOS and its subscales compared with placebo group (2) Significant decrease in VAS compared with placebo group |
- | 41 |
| Khadem Haghighian et al (2016) | Iran | Female knee OA patients (n = 19 per group) | Pomegranate peel hydro alcoholic extract capsules | 1 g/day | Orally | 8 weeks | - | Significant decrease in serum hs-CRP level compared with placebo group | 42 |
| Ghoochani et al (2015) | Iran | knee OA patients (n = 19 per group) | Pomegranate juice | 200 mL/day | Orally | 6 weeks | (1) No significant change in WOMAC total and subscales scores compared with placebo group | (1) Significant reduction in serum MMP-1 and MMP-13 concentrations compared with placebo group (2) Significant increase in GPx compared with placebo group |
43 |
| Ghoochani et al (2015) | Iran | knee OA patients (n = 19 per group) | Pomegranate juice | 200 mL/day | Orally | 6 weeks | No significant change in physical function compared with placebo group | No significant change in serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels compared with placebo group | 44 |
OA: osteoarthritis; MDA: malondialdehyde; SOD: superoxide dismutase; GPx: glutathione peroxidase; TAC: total antioxidant capacity; KOOS: knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score; VAS: visual analog scale; hs-CRP: high sensitive-C reactive protein; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index; MMP: matrix metalloproteinase; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-1β: interleukin-1β.