Abstract

Agnez S. Uwais*, Tania Mo Habibie, Raffi O. Syahrini and Ayu Sri Gie4

Osteoarthritis is the most frequent joint disease worldwide. Patients with osteoarthritis mostly use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as diclofenac sodium for reducing pain. Diclofenac sodium frequently disturbs the liver function. Curcuminoid has an anti-inflammatory activity and some references state that curcuminoid protects the liver function. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of curcuminoid from Curcuma domestica Val. rhizome extract and diclofenac sodium on the liver function of patients with osteoarthritis. A total of 80 patients with knee osteoarthritis were enrolled. Subjects were divided randomly into two groups; a group received 30 mg of curcuminoid from C. domestica Val. 3 times daily (curcuminoid group) and the other received 25 mg of diclofenac sodium 3 times daily (diclofenac group). Assessment of results includes serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) performed before and after 4 weeks of treatment. In the curcuminoid group, there was no significant decrease of AST serum level (p < 0.15) and ALT serum level (p < 0.41), whereas in the diclofenac group, there was no significant increase of AST serum level (p=0.05) and significant increase of ALT serum level (p<0.01). The increase of serum AST and ALT level in the diclofenac group were significantly different as compared to the decrease of the levels in the curcuminoid group. This means that diclofenac sodium disturbs liver function, while curcuminoid from C. domestica Val. rhizome extract improves the liver function of patients with osteoarthritis.