An Advanced Curcumin May Reduce Arthritis Pain, Improve Mobility

Source: G Belcaro et al., “Product-evaluation registry of Meriva, a curcumin-phosphatidylcholine complex, for the complementary management of osteoarthritis,” Panminerva Medica, June 2010; 52 (2 Suppl 1): 55-62.

In a registry study published in Panminerva Medica, researchers indicate that Meriva, a proprietary ingredient from Indena S.p.A. (Milan) containing curcumin and soy phosphatidylcholine, may help relieve pain and increase mobility in patients with osteoarthritis. According to Indena, this is the first study to exhibit curcumin’s clinical efficacy when administered at “low and realistic” dosages.

Patients were administered a Meriva dosage of 200 mg curcumin/die-a dosage Indena says is much lower than those used in previous and ongoing clinical studies, whose dosages can be as high as 8 g/die. Meriva features Indena’s Phytosome technology, which, thanks to a phospholipid formulation, enhances the ingredient’s bioavailability.

Researchers determined that Meriva is clinically effective as a complementary aid for osteoarthritis. Moreover, Indena says that findings from the study may suggest that an ingredient such as Meriva that provides increased stability and better absorption of curcumin, induced by phospholipid complexation, may have significance.

“The low water solubility of curcumin, its chemical instability at intestinal pH values, and its extremely poor oral bioavailability have so far hampered all attempts of clinical developments,” Giovanni Appendino, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Eastern Piedmont and an Indena scientific advisor, commented on the study. “Today, those problems have been largely overcome by phospholipid complexation offering improved stability and oral absorption in comparison with uncomplexed curcumin.”