Dietary Wild Blueberries and Joint Health

Effects of Dietary Wild Blueberries on Gut Health and Inflammation and Joint Pain

The goal of this proposed study is to examine the effects of dietary wild blueberries on gut microbiome, serum markers of inflammation, and joint function in adults. Each participant will consume 25g freeze-dried blueberries or matched placebo powder for 12 weeks, with a 2-week washout phase between.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Joint Pain; Pain Assessment; Gut -Microbiota; Inflammation Biomarkers
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Placebo; Dietary supplement: Wild blueberry

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Arpita Basu; Phone Number: 702-895-4576; Email: arpita.basu@unlv.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oklahoma
    • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, 73104
      • Recruiting
      • OMRF
      • Contact: Judy Goodman; Phone Number: 405- 271-3007; Email: judy-goodman@omrf.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults with documented multi-joint/knee arthritis

Exclusion Criteria:

• inability to give informed consent
• pregnancy or lactation
• planned knee replacement surgery
• allergy or contraindication to berries
• recent trauma of the knee responsible of the symptomatic knee
• intra-articular injection in the target knee/hip in the last 3 months
• oral corticosteroid therapy ≥ 5 mg/day (prednisone equivalent) at baseline
• use of berry extracts in the last 3 months
• special diets
• cancer treatment
• bone diseases

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Wild blueberries; 25g freeze-dried wild blueberries daily for 12 weeks	Dietary supplement: Wild blueberry; Freeze-dried wild blueberry powder 25g/day
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Placebo powder free from polyphenols matched for calories	Dietary supplement: Placebo; Placebo powder matched for calories and no polyphenols

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum biomarkers of joint function	Serum biomarkers of inflammation and cartilage degradation will be measured in the wild blueberry and placebo groups and compared for outcomes. Pain scores will also be measured using self-reported questionnaires.	12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Gut microbiome	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Collaborators: Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 10, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 10, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): February 14, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 5, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 3, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Joint Diseases; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Arthralgia
• Other Study ID Numbers: OMRF WB01; WBANA01 (Other Grant/Funding Number: WBANA)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No