Efficacy of Proprietary Cherry Juice Blend in Osteoarthritis of the Knee

The primary objective is to determine if the proprietary tart cherry juice blend improves the pain and function in persons with knee osteoarthritis. A secondary objective is to ascertain if the blend lowers serum uric acid.

This is a prospective double blind, placebo controlled cross-over study.

The study will be performed in the Philadelphia VA Medical Center 1 South Rheumatology Clinic with patients meeting ACR criteria for Kellgren grade 2-3 knee osteoarthritis and 4-9 pain severity on a VAS. Fifty patients will be studied with each having 5 visits. Subjects will take either the proprietary cherry blend or placebo for 6 weeks and then switch. WOMAC pain and function will be the primary outcome with acetaminophen use, walking time and serum uric acid as secondary outcomes.

Inclusion criteria

• Subject is capable of giving informed consent.
• Subject is over 18 years and less than 80 years
• Subject has mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee based on all of the following 3:

• Meets clinical ACR criteria
• Kellgren score of 2-3 on a Standing Knee x-ray within previous 24 months
• VAS pain score of 4-9 at screening visit

Exclusion criteria

• Rheumatoid arthritis or other systemic inflammatory condition
• Chronic pain syndrome (fibromyalgia)
• Corticosteroid medication in last 2 months, either intra-articular or oral
• Intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid in last 9 months
• Pregnant women (weight gain might confound degree of knee pain)
• Diabetes
• Inability to discontinue prescription medication for arthritis
• Unstable medical conditions that would likely prevent the subject from completing the study
• Food allergies - cherries, apples