Trial reportClinical rheumatology2012
Comparable efficacy of standardized Ayurveda formulation and hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQS) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA): a randomized investigator-blind controlled study.
Trial report in Clinical rheumatology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary Ingredients Requiring Further Research Before Evidence-Based Recommendations Can Be Made for Their Use as an Approach to Mitigating Pain.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2019Pooled it
- Conditional Recommendations for Specific Dietary Ingredients as an Approach to Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Evidence-Based Decision Aid for Health Care Providers, Participants, and Policy Makers.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2019Guideline
- Quality of reporting of randomised controlled trials of herbal interventions in ASEAN Plus Six Countries: a systematic review.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Efficacy & safety evaluation of Ayurvedic treatment (Ashwagandha powder & Sidh Makardhwaj) in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a pilot prospective study.The Indian journal of medical research · 2015Trial
- Physicochemical evaluation, GC-MS-based phytoconstituent analysis and network pharmacology study of Guduchi Arka: an ayurvedic hydro-distillate.Bioresources and bioprocessing · 2026Article
- Exploring herbal synergies in the management of rheumatoid arthritis: a multifaceted approach to inflammation and joint health.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Pathophysiology, diagnosis, and herbal medicine-based therapeutic implication of rheumatoid arthritis: an overview.Inflammopharmacology · 2024Review
- Review
- Review
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Current rheumatology reports · 2020Review
- Cost-effectiveness evaluation of glucosamine for osteoarthritis based on simulation of individual patient data obtained from aggregated data in published studies.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2019Article
- Rheumatology science and practice in India.Rheumatology international · 2018Review
- The effects of conventional drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis on the serum lipids.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2018Article
- Genus Tinospora: Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2016Review
- Rheumatology in India--quo vadis?Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2015Review
- Ayurvedic medicine for rheumatoid arthritis.Current rheumatology reports · 2014Review
- Herbal medicine for rheumatic diseases: promises kept?Current rheumatology reports · 2012Review
- Tinospora cordifolia: One plant, many roles.Ancient science of life · 2012Article
- Evaluating higher doses of Shunthi - Guduchi formulations for safety in treatment of osteoarthritis knees: A Government of India NMITLI arthritis project.Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine · 2012Article
- Emanating the specialty clinical practices in Ayurveda: Preliminary observations from an arthritis clinic and its implications.Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQS) is a popular disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) despite modest efficacy and toxicity. Ayurveda (ancient India medicinal system) physicians treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with allegedly safer herbal formulations. We report a head-to-head comparison in an exploratory drug trial. The objective is to compare standardized Ayurvedic formulations and HCQS in the treatment of RA. One hundred twenty-one patients with active moderately severe RA (ACR 1988 classified) were randomized into a 24-week investigator-blind, parallel efficacy, three-arm (two Ayurvedic and HCQS) multicenter drug trial study; polyherb (Tinospora cordifolia and Zingiber officinale based) and monoherb (Semecarpus anacardium). Study measures included joint counts (pain/tenderness and swelling), pain visual analogue scale, global disease assessments, and health assessment questionnaire. Oral meloxicam (fixed-dosage schedule) was prescribed to all patients during the initial 16 weeks. Patients on prednisolone could continue a fixed stable dose (<7.5 mg daily). Rescue oral use of paracetamol was permitted and monitored. All groups matched well at baseline. An intent-to-treat analysis (ANOVA, significance P < 0.05) did not show significant differences by treatment groups. In the polyherb, monoherb, and HCQS arms, 44%, 36%, and 51%, respectively, showed ACR 20 index improvement. Several efficacy measures improved significantly in the HCQS and polyherb groups with no difference between the groups (corrected P). However, the latter was individually superior to monoherb. Only mild adverse events (gut and skin, and none withdrew) were reported with no differences between the groups. Forty-two patients dropped out. This preliminary drug trial controlled for HCQS demonstrated a standardized Ayurvedic polyherb drug to be effective and safe in controlling active RA. A better-designed study with a longer evaluation period is recommended.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.