The best is from Devil's
Claw (ie. Harpagophytum
p.) !
Several
randomized studies, double-blind controlled with placebo and NSAIDs,
allowed to confirm the efficacy of nutraceuticals contain-ing
Harpagophytum procumbens on patients suffering from low back pain and
osteoarthritis (activity demonstrated on pain improvement, arthritis,
low back pain, Arhus index improve-ment).
1,2,11,15,21,24,25,26,,27,28,29,30Taking
devil’s claw orally alone and in conjunction with non steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs seems to help decrease osteoarthritis-related
pain.
2Several randomized
double-blind study comparing
Harpagophytum procumbens and NSAIDs (Diacerhein® rofecoxib® Vioxx®)
treatments (notably Chrubasik et Al., 2003) reported no significant
difference in the efficacy assessment between the treatments groups
regarding spontaneous pain related to arthritis.
1,2,24,29Basically,
all the double-blind clinical studies com-paring Harpagophytum
procumbens and other treatments reported that patients taking
Harpagophytum procumbens extracts were using significantly less
NSAIDs than antalgic drugs.
21You can
easily find most of those studies on the web, or ask Burgundy for a
Brief.
Dosages
in studies are referring to daily intake of 15mg Harpagoside / day to
even 100mg Harpagoside / day. Most common is 20 or 30mg/day.
Published data about physiological effects
In
vitro experiments revealed that harpagoside, inhibits dose-dependently
both pathways of the eicosanoids biosynthesis, the cyclo-oxygenase and
the lipoxygenase and offers, thus, a broader effect mechanism than the
NSAIDs.
13Action on eicosanoidsThe
inhibition level seems correlated with the harpagoside concentration of
the extract, which suggests that harpagoside is certainly one of the
compounds the most pharmacologically active in the extract.
8
Nevertheless, the same kind of tests realized with a purified solution
of harpagoside reported an inhibiting action less important than with
the entire harpagophytum extract. Authors concluded that other
components may contribute to the efficiency of the extract.
9Action on cyclo-oxygenase and NOsynthetaseIn
2003, Jang et coll. Reported that the addition of Harpagophytum extract
in vitro study on fibroblasts cultures (0.1 mg/ml) is responsible for
a significant inhibition of expression of COX-2 and i-NOS. A PGE2 and
NO reduction is also observed.
22Action on cytokines (TNFα) liberationA
study on human monocyts cultivated and stimulated with LPS reported
that the use of Harpagophytum extract inhibits TNFα liberation in a
dose-dependent manner.
16 Like Diacerhein, Harpagophytum preparations affects cytokine release in vitro (Chrubasik et al. 2002b).
23On animalThe
therapeutic effects of Devil’s claw extracts have been studied on
several kind of inflammation (acute, subacute, chronic) and on a pain
model (Eichler & Koch, 1970). It has been demonstrated that the
observed effect was comparable to phenylbutazone®: harpagoside is an
efficient analgesic and anti-inflammatory on chronic in-flammation, but
not on subchronic inflammation whereas harpagogenine is an
anti-inflammatory and an anti-arthritic but not an analgesic.
24Soulimani
et al. clearly demonstrated that extracts of Harpagophytum procumbens
have an anti-inflammatory effect on an acute inflammatory process
(carrageenan-induced edema in rat paws), also demonstrated by other
researchers (Eichler and Kosh, 1970; Erdos et al. 1978; Lanhers et al.
1992).
On humanIn
human, several randomized studies, double-blind controlled with placebo
and NSAIDs, allowed to confirm the efficacy of nutraceuticals
contain-ing Harpagophytum procumbens on patients suffering from low
back pain and osteoarthritis (activity demonstrated on pain
improvement, arthritis, low back pain, Arhus index improve-ment).
1,2,11,15,21,24,25,26, 27,28,29,30Taking
devil’s claw orally alone and in conjunction with non steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs seems to help decrease osteoarthritis-related
pain.
2Several randomized double-blind study
comparing Harpagophytum procumbens and NSAIDs (Diacerhein® rofecoxib®
Vioxx®) treatments (notably Chrubasik et Al., 2003) reported no
sig-nificant difference in the efficacy assessment between the
treatments groups regarding sponta-neous pain related to arthritis.
1,2,24,29Basically,
all the double-blind clinical studies com-paring Harpagophytum
procumbens and other treatments reported that patients taking
Harpa-gophytum procumbens extracts were using signifi-cantly less
NSAIDs than antalgic drugs.
21Dosages in studies are referring to daily intake of 15mg Harpagoside / day to even 100mg Harpagoside / day. Most common is 20 or 30mg/day.
References