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CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1377527
This article is part of the Research Topic Natural Products in Medicine: Insights from History and Ethnopharmacology View all 11 articles

A randomized double-blind active-controlled clinical trial on the efficacy of topical basil (Ocimum basilicum) oil in knee osteoarthritis

Provisionally accepted
Alireza Askari Alireza Askari 1Fatemeh Sadat Hasheminasab Fatemeh Sadat Hasheminasab 2Omid Sadeghpour Omid Sadeghpour 3Mohammad Mehdi Naghizadeh Mohammad Mehdi Naghizadeh 4Seyed Ali Ravansalar Seyed Ali Ravansalar 5Aida Iraji Aida Iraji 6Mohammad Hashem Hashempur Mohammad Hashem Hashempur 6*
  • 1 Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
  • 2 Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
  • 3 Department of Traditional Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Alborz, Iran
  • 4 Noncommunicable Diseases Research Centre, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
  • 5 Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Fars, Iran
  • 6 Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Fars, Iran

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  1. Erratum: A randomized double-blind active-controlled clinical trial on the efficacy of topical basil (Ocimum basilicum) oil in knee osteoarthritis

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    Background: Basil is a widely used herb in Persian medicine and is gaining recognition as a functional food worldwide.Aim of the study: This trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of a traditional formulation of basil oil in comparison with diclofenac gel in treating knee osteoarthritis, considering its established anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, and anti-oxidative properties.One hundred eligible patients were equally randomized to the traditional basil oil (containing sesame oil) and diclofenac gel groups. They used their respective topical treatments thrice daily for four weeks. Various measurements were taken at the beginning of the study, 2, and 4 weeks after starting the intervention, including the 8-meter walk test, knee pain (based on visual analog scale), flexion angle of the knee joint, analgesic consumption, and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire.Results: No significant differences were observed between the basil oil and diclofenac gel groups in any of the measured outcomes. However, significant improvements were noted within each group for most variables.Conclusions: Topical application of the traditional formulation of basil oil appears to improve clinical symptoms and certain functional indicators of knee osteoarthritis to a similar extent as diclofenac gel. This suggests that basil oil could be considered an effective management option for this condition.

    Keywords: Osteoarthritis, Herbal Medicine, Persian medicine, basil, Ocimum basilicum

    Received: 27 Jan 2024; Accepted: 08 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Askari, Hasheminasab, Sadeghpour, Naghizadeh, Ravansalar, Iraji and Hashempur. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mohammad Hashem Hashempur, Research Center for Traditional Medicine and History of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 71348-14336, Fars, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.