Conditions: Hand Osteoarthritis
Keywords: osteoarthritis hand Shinbaro GCSB-5
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 220
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
GCSB-5 ("Shinbaro capsule"), is a mixture of 6 oriental herbs that have anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects along with an excellent safety profile. This study is aimed at investigating efficacy of Shinbaro in the treatment of hand osteoarthritis which needs a long term treatment in a placebo controlled, double-blind randomized trial.

Detailed description:
Osteoarthritis (OA) as a common musculoskeletal disease affects more than 30% of the elderly population. It frequently involves knees, hips, spines and hands. In hands, the distal and proximal interphalangeal and the first carpometacarpal joints are affected, leading often to significant disability and limitation in the daily activity. The chronic progressive nature of the disease requires a life-long treatment. The mainstay treatment of hand OA targets pain control. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often used. However, they are frequently associated with significant gastrointestinal side effects including gastritis, peptic ulcer diseases, and bleeding, especially with long term use. Further, they do not ameliorate pain completely, requiring additional medications such as acetaminophen or opioid-based analgesics.

Shibaro is a mixture of purified oriental herbs consisting of Ledebouriellae Radix, Achyranthis Radix, Acanthopanacis Cortex, Cibotii Rhizoma, Glycine Semen, and Eucommiae Cortex. These herbs have been used for the treatment of diverse inflammatory conditions in Chines traditional medicine. All 6 herbs show an excellent safety profile and their anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects have been studied in both animals and humans. As such, given the excellent safety profile, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, Shinbaro might be ideal in the treatment of OA.

This study will investigate the efficacy and safety of Shinbaro in the treatment of hand OA in a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, multi-center trial.

Arms:
arm 1: Placebo 2 capsules, twice daily, for 12 weeks. arm 2: Shinbaro, 2 capsules (300mg), twice daily, for 12 weeks

Interventions: intervention 1: Shinbaro intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: GCSB-5 (Shinbaro) is a mixture of six purified oriental herb extracts in a fixed ratio, namely, Saposhnikovia divaricata Schischk, Glycine max Merrill, Cibotium barometz J. Smith, Eucommia ulmoides Oliver, Achyranthes japonica Nakai, and Acanthopanax sessiliflorus Seem intervention 2: The study medication and placebo were identical in appearance.

Protocol document: