A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, evaluating the garlic supplement effects on some serum biomarkers of oxidative stress, and quality of life in women with rheumatoid arthritis.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Copper (Supplement) in the context of rheumatoid arthritis, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Oxidative stress might play a role in RA pathogenesis and outcomes.

According to the antioxidant properties of garlic, the current study was performed to evaluate the garlic supplement effects on some serum levels of oxidative stress biomarkers, and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

A health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) was used to evaluate the quality of life related to health.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, women only.

Seventy women with RA participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-design trial.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Copper (Supplement) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

As a double-blind Copper (Supplement) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Copper (Supplement) group a baseline to be compared against.

The Copper (Supplement) group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

Serum levels of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and quality of life were determined at baseline and end of week 8.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Antioxidants, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Biomarkers, Dietary Supplements, Garlic, Malondialdehyde and Oxidative Stress.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Copper (Supplement) in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2020 (International journal of clinical practice), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Copper (Supplement) compound page, Rheumatoid arthritis research.