Randomised controlled trial

Randomisation spreads unknown differences between people evenly across the groups. A placebo group shows how much change happens anyway. Blinding stops expectations colouring the results.

The trials on this site show what such trials can and can't settle:

• Four boswellia extract trials, of 60 to 80 people over 90 to 180 days, compared extracts with placebo in people with knee osteoarthritis (Sengupta 2008; Sengupta 2010; Kumar 2025; Vaidya 2025). Each tested one product at one dose, and its results belong to that product.
• A 12-month trial of a broad MMP-blocking drug in 401 people found no benefit over placebo and enough musculoskeletal side effects to end the drug's development for that use (Krzeski 2007).

A trial measures the outcomes it was designed to measure. None of the trials here reports measuring MMP13 itself.

Sources

1. Sengupta K, Alluri KV, Satish AR et al. A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study of the efficacy and safety of 5-Loxin for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Arthritis Res Ther 2008.
   PMID 18667054DOI 10.1186/ar2461Our summary
2. Sengupta K, Krishnaraju AV, Vishal AA et al. Comparative efficacy and tolerability of 5-Loxin and Aflapin Against osteoarthritis of the knee: a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled clinical study. Int J Med Sci 2010.
   PMID 21060724DOI 10.7150/ijms.7.366Our summary
3. Kumar B, Ghaytidak AB, Pandey AK et al. A Standardized Boswellia serrata Extract Improves Knee Joint Function and Cartilage Morphology in Human Volunteers with Mild to Moderate Osteoarthritis in a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study. J Am Nutr Assoc 2025.
   PMID 39700461DOI 10.1080/27697061.2024.2438894Our summary
4. Vaidya N, Agarwal R, Dipankar DG et al. Efficacy and Safety of Boswellia serrata and Apium graveolens L. Extract Against Knee Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Degeneration: A Randomized, Double-blind, Multicenter, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Pharm Res 2025.
   PMID 39875757DOI 10.1007/s11095-025-03818-2Our summary
5. Krzeski P, Buckland-Wright C, Bálint G et al. Development of musculoskeletal toxicity without clear benefit after administration of PG-116800, a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, to patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, 12-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Arthritis Res Ther 2007.
   PMID 17958901DOI 10.1186/ar2315Our summary

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