Validating Efficacy of Shea Nut Oil Extract in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dec 2013

Objectives. To examine and investigate the efficacy of shea nut oil extract (SheaFlex75) in relation to knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Thirty-three patients (age years) with knee OA were recruited. Real-time ultrasound imaging and surface electromyography were used to objectively assess the morphological changes and the activity of vastus medialis oblique (VMO) muscles during a 16-week intervention of SheaFlex75. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to examine the reliability of the interscans. A paired-sample -test was used to compare the findings in different stages. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the relevant variables of OA and percentage of thickness change of VMO at different contraction levels. Results. The baseline findings showed strong correlation, suggesting that the reliability of interscans at pretest was high. The ability to contract the muscles of the knee to a 30% contraction level showed significant change between the baseline and after 16-week testing, both in terms of morphological changes and muscle activity. Pain scale reported a significant decrease at the 16th week. Conclusion. The results suggest that SheaFlex75 can relieve the symptoms of knee OA and can result in improvement of muscle control of the knee.

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Validating Efficacy of Shea Nut Oil Extract in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients

Validating Efficacy of Shea Nut Oil Extract in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients San-Pei Chen,1 Sui-Foon Lo,2,3 Yu-Chia Wang,2 Tzu-Yi Chou,2 Kang-Ming Chang,4 and Li-Wei Chou2,3 1Department of Physical Therapy and Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan 3School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan 4Department of Photonics and Communication Engineering, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan Received 18 April 2013; Revised 13 November 2013; Accepted 13 November 2013 Academic Editor: Mohamad Fawzi Mahomoodally Copyright © 2013 San-Pei Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Objectives. To examine and investigate the efficacy of shea nut oil extract (SheaFlex75) in relation to knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods. Thirty-three patients (age 6 3 . 6 ± 5 . 8   years) with knee OA were recruited. Real-time ultrasound imaging and surface electromyography were used to objectively assess the morphological changes and the activity of vastus medialis oblique (VMO) muscles during a 16-week intervention of SheaFlex75. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to examine the reliability of the interscans. A paired-sample ? -test was used to compare the findings in different stages. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the relevant variables of OA and percentage of thickness change of VMO at different contraction levels. Results. The baseline findings showed strong correlation, suggesting that the reliability of interscans at pretest was high. The ability to contract the muscles of the knee to a 30% contraction level showed significant change between the baseline and after 16-week testing, both in terms of morphological changes and muscle activity. Pain scale reported a significant decrease at the 16th week. Conclusion. The results suggest that SheaFlex75 can relieve the symptoms of knee OA and can result in improvement of muscle control of the knee. 1. Introduction Vitellaria paradoxa, commonly known as the “shea tree,” is a tree of Sapotaceae family, indigenous to Africa. The shea fruit consists of a thin, tart, nutritious pulp, surrounding a relatively large, oil-rich seed, from which “shea butter” is extracted. The butter has been used locally as food, providing a major source of dietary fat. In the West, shea butter is most commonly used in cosmetics [1, 2]. Extracts from the seed have also been used for the treatment of arthritic conditions [3, 4]. Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint disease, and osteoarthrosis, is a group of mechanical abnormalities involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and subchondral bone. OA is the most common form of arthritis [5] and the leading cause of chronic disability which affects about twenty-seven million people in the United States [6, 7] and nearly 8 million people in the United Kingdom [7]. It most commonly affects the knee and has an impact on the health-related quality of life of the elderly [5]. Symptoms may include joint pain, tenderness over the inside of knee, stiffness, locking, reduced mobility, atrophy of lower extremities, and decreased walking speed. These functional impairments may reduce a sufferer’s general level of exercise and increase the risk of consequent injuries, such as those that might result from a fall. Patients with knee OA demonstrate different kinematics and kinetics of gait pattern from the healthy adults. These changes may restrict the functional ability of the elderly in daily life, such as walking, stair climbing, navigating obstacles, and standing up. The muscle activation patterns of the key lower extremity muscles involved in the gait were reported to avoid pain and protect the knee from further degeneration. These muscle activities were reported to be different between patients and healthy adults. A study by Stauffer et al. compared patients with knee OA and healthy young adults and reported less knee joint motion, isometric knee strength, and peak ground-reaction force in patients [8]. Suzuki and Takahama [9] and Benedetti et al. [10] observed increased activity of the quadriceps and hamstrings during weight bearing. Kaufman et al. compared the gait patterns during level walking between the patients group ( ? = 1 3 9 , aged between 30 and 82 years old, grade II OA severity) and healthy controls (mean age = 30 years old) and also found less peak knee motion (54° versus 60°) in the knee OA cohort. The walking speed in the knee OA group was lower than the healthy control [11]. Childs et al. re (...truncated)


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San-Pei Chen, Sui-Foon Lo, Yu-Chia Wang, Tzu-Yi Chou, Kang-Ming Chang, Li-Wei Chou. Validating Efficacy of Shea Nut Oil Extract in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013, 2013, DOI: 10.1155/2013/147163