In a significant study on the Curcumin C3 Complex^® and BioPerine^® combination, researchers at University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran observed considerable benefits of this combination in the management of knee osteoarthritis. The study was published in Phytotherapy Research and entitled Curcuminoid Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial.

In this 8 week, 53 subjects, pilot randomized double blind placebo controlled parallel group study, patients suffering from mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis were administered Curcumin C3 Complex^® along with the natural bioavailability enhancer BioPerine (black pepper extract, piper nigrum) in three divided doses. BioPerine, trademarked and patented by Sabinsa, has been clinically studied for its safety and efficacy as a bioavailability enhancer for several dietary ingredients including Curcuminoids. The results show that the combination of Curcumin C3 Complex^® and BioPerine^® showed significant improvement in arthritic indices such as VAS (Visual Analogue Scale), WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritic Index) and LPFI (Lequesne’s pain functional index) scores. Curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory and scavenge free radicals, which cause oxidative stress thereby developing and progressing osteoarthritis. Study authors mention the combination of Curcumin with BioPerine as a novelty for this study, which improves the bioavailability by several mechanisms including the inhibition of curcuminoids glucuronidation in intestine and liver thus increasing the bioavailability of Curcuminoids.

The current study shows better or improved results against several previously conducted trials using bio-enhanced curcuminoids on Osteoarthritic subjects in terms of quicker response, improvement in LPFI, VAS or WOMAC scale. Thus, this study paves the pathway for future larger scale clinical studies using BioPerine as a bioavailability enhancer for Curcuminoids as a safe and efficacious combination.

"We’re excited to see one of the many potentials of curcumin re-enforced, especially for consumers and marketing companies that use our patented Curcumin C3 Complex and BioPerine ingredients for this activity,” said Shaheen Majeed, Sabinsa Marketing Director. “Rather than using altered, oil based or other modified forms of curcumins that are out there in the marketplace, this study gives compelling evidence to simply add BioPerine for enhancing the uptake of curcumin."

Sabinsa’s Curcumin C3 Complex has been the subject of over 25 clinical studies and 70 published researched papers. The Curcumin C3 Complex^® and BioPerine^® combination was earlier studied in an independent clinical trial published by Tufts University validating its safety and quality of ingredients.