Cats Claw for Osteoarthritis

A freeze-dried Uncaria tomentosa water extract at 100 mg/day reduced pain with activity in a small placebo-controlled knee osteoarthritis trial, with benefit appearing within the first week.

Overview

A freeze-dried Uncaria tomentosa water extract at 100 mg/day reduced pain with activity in a small placebo-controlled knee osteoarthritis trial, with benefit appearing within the first week.

Verdict

Mixed evidence

Worth a 4-6 week trial for activity-related knee pain if you are not on immunosuppressants, but the evidence base is one small trial plus supportive rheumatoid arthritis data.

How It Works

Cat's claw inhibits TNF-alpha production and NF-kB activation, damping the low-grade synovial inflammation that drives osteoarthritic pain rather than rebuilding cartilage.

Dosing & Protocol

Typical dose

Recommended dose: 100 mg/day freeze-dried water extract
Expected timeframe: 1-4 weeks

Protocol

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Evidence

What the studies say

The pivotal study randomised 45 adults with knee osteoarthritis to 100 mg/day of a freeze-dried water extract or placebo for four weeks. Pain with activity fell significantly versus placebo by week one; pain at rest and at night did not change, and knee circumference and medical assessment scores were unchanged. A separate 52-week randomised trial in rheumatoid arthritis added a POA-standardised extract to sulfasalazine or hydroxychloroquine and found a modest reduction in the number of painful joints during the open-label phase. No trial has compared cat's claw with NSAIDs, and none has measured joint structure. The honest reading: a real but narrow analgesic signal on movement-related pain, in small samples, with no evidence of disease modification.

Efficacy and safety of freeze-dried cats claw in osteoarthritis of the knee: mechanisms of action of the species Uncaria guianensis

Score: 5/10

2001

rct

n=45

Piscoya J, Rodriguez Z, Bustamante SA +3 more

Cats claw extract reduced knee pain associated with activity within one week compared with placebo, without significant changes in knee circumference or resting pain.

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Early relief of osteoarthritis symptoms with a natural mineral supplement and a herbomineral combination: a randomized controlled trial

Score: 7/10

2005

rct

n=107

Miller MJ, Mehta K, Kunte S +2 more

All four groups showed improvement in WOMAC and VAS scores after 8 weeks (p < 0.001), in all 3 groups receiving sierrasil the magnitude of benefits were greater vs. placebo (WOMAC Total 38-43% vs. 27%) but this was not statistically significant.

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Safety

Caveats

Sample sizes are tiny and the OA trial ran only four weeks. Chemotype standardisation is inconsistent across brands, and TOA-containing extracts may antagonise the active alkaloids.

Less likely to help if

People whose pain is mechanical and structural rather than inflammatory, and those with advanced joint space loss, are unlikely to notice much.

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