Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin supplements on osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: The databases such as Pubmed and Cochrane Library were searched to collect the article about Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin in the treatment of OA. Then, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected and their data was extracted. Finally, the RevMan5.3 was utilized for risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis, the STATA15.0 were utilized for publication bias assessment, and GRADE tool were used for the evidence quality assessment of primary outcomes. Results: A total of 15 RCTs involving 1621 participants were included. (1) Compared with placebo, Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin (C.) can decrease the VAS and WOMAC score-pain, the WOMAC score-function and the WOMAC score-stiffness. In terms of adverse events, Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin are comparable to those of placebo. (2) Compared with NSAIDs, Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin have similar effects on joint pain, function and stiffness. The incidence of adverse events in Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin was lower. (3) Compared with the NSAIDs group, C.+NSAIDs can also decrease the VAS and WOMAC score-pain, the WOMAC score-function and the WOMAC score-stiffness. In terms of adverse events, the addition of Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin to NSAIDs did not increase adverse events. Conclusion: Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin may be a safer and effective supplement for OA patients. It is recommended to use Curcuma longa Extract and curcumin supplement for OA patients for more than 12 weeks.

Background. Patients with psoriasis need long-term medication to control their condition. Recent studies suggest that changing the intestinal flora may be a potential treatment. Methods. The databases were utilized to search the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and preclinical trials about probiotic supplement in the treatment of psoriasis. The retrieval time is from the establishment of these databases to December 2020. RevMan5.3 was used for the risk assessment of bias and meta-analysis. This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021232756). Results. A total of 3 RCTs involving 164 participants were included. Two RCTs showed that probiotics can improve PASI and thereby improve the condition. For inflammation-related indicators, only one RCT showed that probiotics can improve the levels of CRP and TNF-α but have no obvious improvement effect on IL6. One RCT demonstrated the total effective rate of probiotics in the treatment of psoriasis. For adverse events, one RCT showed that the incidence of adverse events of probiotic treatment was low. Preclinical studies showed that continuous intervention with oral probiotics can significantly improve the progression of psoriasis and reduce the expression of inflammatory factors. The meta-analysis showed that the PASI between two groups was of no statistical significance (SMD 1.83 [-0.41, 4.07], P = 0.11 ). Meanwhile, probiotics may improve skin thickness (SMD -5.87 [-11.34, -0.41], P = 0.04 ) in animal model. Conclusion. Prebiotics may have a positive effect on alleviating the clinical symptoms of psoriasis, but a large sample of RCTs is still needed to support its therapeutic effect in psoriasis.

Objective. To explore the efficacy of antioxidative stress therapy on oxidative stress levels in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Methods. Chinese and English databases such as PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and China Biomedical Literature were searched, mainly searching for clinical randomized controlled trials of antioxidant therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. The search time is from the establishment of the database to July 2021. Two researchers independently carried out literature search, screening, and data extraction. The bias risk tool provided by the Cochrane Collaboration was used to evaluate the bias risk of all the included literature, and the RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. Results. A total of 24 RCTs (28 records) and 1277 participants were included. The time span of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is from 1986 to 2020. These RCTs involve 14 types of antioxidants or antioxidant therapies, and these therapies have varying degrees of improvement on oxidative stress in RA patients. The summary results showed that the MDA in the experiment group is lower (SMD -0.82, 95% CI -1.35 to -0.28, P = 0.003 ). The difference of TAC, SOD, NO, GPx, CAT, and GSH between two groups was of no statistical significance (TAC (SMD 0.27, 95% CI -0.21 to 0.75, P = 0.27 ), SOD (SMD 0.12, 95% CI -0.16 to 0.40, P = 0.41 ), NO (SMD -2.03, 95% CI -4.22 to 0.16, P = 0.07 ), GPx (SMD 0.24, 95% CI -0.07 to 0.54, P = 0.13 ), CAT (SMD 2.95, 95% CI -2.6 to 8.51, P = 0.30 ), and GSH (SMD 2.46, 95% CI -0.06 to 4.98, P = 0.06 )). For adverse events, the summary results showed that the difference was of no statistical significance (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.71, P = 0.45 ). In addition, antioxidant therapy has also shown improvement in clinical efficacy indexes (number of tender joints, number of swollen joints, DAS28, VAS, and HAQ) and inflammation indexes (ESR, CRP, TNF-α, and IL6) for RA patients. Conclusion. The existing evidence shows potential benefits, mainly in reducing MDA and increasing TAC and GSH in some subgroups. However, more large samples and higher quality RCTs are needed to provide high-quality evidence, so as to provide more clinical reference information for the antioxidant treatment of RA.

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Aim. Probiotics are considered to be bone metabolism regulators, and their efficacy as an adjuvant treatment option for osteoporosis is still controversial. The purpose of this study is to compare the available data from randomized controlled trials (RCT) of probiotics in the treatment of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Methods. As of June 2021, databases such as Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Central Cochrane Library have been used for English-language literature searches and CNKI and China Biomedical Database have been used for Chinese-language literature searches. RevMan 5.3 was used for bias risk assessment, heterogeneity detection, and meta-analysis. This research has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020085934). Results. This systematic review and meta-analysis included 10 RCTs involving 1156. Compared with the placebo, the absolute value of lumbar spine’s BMD was not statistically significant (WMD 0.04 (−0.00, 0.09), P = 0.07 , random effect model), while the percentage of lumbar spine’s BMD was higher (SMD 1.16 (0.21, 2.12), P = 0.02 , random effect model). Compared with the control group, the percentage of total hip’s BMD was not statistically significant (SMD 0.52 (−0.69, 1.73), P = 0.40 , random effect model). The safety analysis showed that, compared with control group, the adverse events in the experimental group were not statistically significant (RR 1.02 (0.92, 1.12), P = 0.70 , fixed effect model). Conclusion. Probiotics may be safety supplements to improve the lumbar spine’s BMD of patients with osteoporosis and osteopenia. More large-sample, random-controlled, high-quality RCTs are needed to further verify the effectiveness and safety of probiotics in intervening osteoporosis or osteopenia.