Trial reportBMC complementary and alternative medicine2017
Cellular pharmacodynamic effects of Pycnogenol® in patients with severe osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled pilot study.
Trial report in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Therapeutic Efficacy of Flavonoids in Allergies: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of immunology research · 2022Pooled it
- A Placebo-Controlled, Pseudo-Randomized, Crossover Trial of Botanical Agents for Gulf War Illness: Curcumin (International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- [Recommendations of the German Society for Rheumatology committee for complementary treatment and nutrition on phytotherapy : Supplement on the use of selected phytotherapeutic agents and herbal preparations in rheumatology: extension to include 13 medicinal plants].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2026Review
- Inhibitory Effects of Heat-ProcessedInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Review of the pharmacokinetics of French maritime pine bark extract (PycnogenolFrontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- PycnogenolFrontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- The protective activity of natural flavonoids against osteoarthritis by targeting NF-κB signaling pathway.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Bioactives and their roles in bone metabolism of osteoarthritis: evidence and mechanisms on gut-bone axis.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Small molecule inhibitors of osteoarthritis: Current development and future perspective.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Review
- Natural Compounds: Potential Therapeutics for the Inhibition of Cartilage Matrix Degradation in Osteoarthritis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Effect of Dietary Polyphenols on Osteoarthritis-Molecular Mechanisms.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Chondroprotection and Molecular Mechanism of Action of Phytonutraceuticals on Osteoarthritis.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Effect of Warm Acupuncture Combined with Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transplantation on Cartilage Tissue in Rabbit Knee Osteoarthritis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- Curcumin Inhibits Proliferation of Synovial Cells by Downregulating Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinase-3 in Osteoarthritis.Orthopaedic surgery · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe standardized maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol®) has previously shown symptom alleviating effects in patients suffering from moderate forms of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The cellular mechanisms for this positive impact are so far unknown. The purpose of the present randomized pilot controlled study was to span the knowledge gap between the reported clinical effects of Pycnogenol® and its in vivo mechanism of action in OA patients.
methodsThirty three patients with severe OA scheduled for a knee arthroplasty either received 100 mg of Pycnogenol® twice daily or no treatment (control group) three weeks before surgery. Cartilage, synovial fluid and serum samples were collected during surgical intervention. Relative gene expression of cartilage homeostasis markers were analyzed in the patients' chondrocytes. Inflammatory and cartilage metabolism mediators were investigated in serum and synovial fluid samples.
resultsThe oral intake of Pycnogenol® downregulated the gene expression of various cartilage degradation markers in the patients' chondrocytes, the decrease of MMP3, MMP13 and the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL1B were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, protein concentrations of ADAMTS-5 in serum were reduced significantly (p ≤ 0.05) after three weeks intake of the pine bark extract.
conclusionsThis is the first report about positive cellular effects of a dietary supplement on key catabolic and inflammatory markers in patients with severe OA. The results provide a rational basis for understanding previously reported clinical effects of Pycnogenol® on symptom scores of patients suffering from OA.
trial registrationISRCTN10754119 . Retrospectively registered 08/10/2015.
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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.