Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12625000157471
Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
11/12/2024
Date registered
10/02/2025
Date last updated
10/02/2025
Date data sharing statement initially provided
10/02/2025
Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Effect of chronic curcumin supplementation on performance and recovery during a four-week off-season training program for team-sport athletes.
Scientific title
Effect of chronic curcumin supplementation on performance and recovery during a four-week off-season training program for team-sport athletes.
Secondary ID [1] 313204 0
Nil
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
U1111-1314-6560
Trial acronym
Linked study record

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
Muscle damage 335500 0
Recovery 335501 0
Condition category
Condition code
Physical Medicine / Rehabilitation 332061 332061 0 0
Other physical medicine / rehabilitation
Alternative and Complementary Medicine 332062 332062 0 0
Other alternative and complementary medicine

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
This study examines the effects of chronic curcumin supplementation in team sport athletes, using a randomised, parallel, placebo-controlled, double blind design. Participants will consume two capsules daily of either curcumin (Curcumin Gold with LipiSperse technology, Natures Help, each containing 396 mg of curcumin) or a placebo for 4-weeks.
Prior to supplementation, participants will undergo a baseline testing session (approximately 90 minutes) that includes a series of field tests (countermovement jump, repeated sprints, Yo-Yo fitness test). Once baseline testing is complete, participants will be randomly assigned to begin their supplementation. At the completion of the baseline testing participants will complete a walk-through of the prescribed exercises with the researcher, allowing the participants to ask any questions regarding the exercises.
The supplementation timeline and requirements for curcumin and placebo will be identical. Participants will start taking their assigned supplement the first Monday of their four-week strength & conditioning (S&C) program. The S&C is designed to elicit physiological changes over the period. Afterward, they will return to perform the same battery off tests conducted during the baseline sessions. Participants will consume curcumin (or placebo) for a total of 4-weeks.
All sessions will be prescribed by an exercise scientist, participants will complete 2 strength and conditioning sessions per week, with a minimum 12 hrs between sessions. The strength sessions will be completed at the participants own gym (unsupervised) while the conditioning sessions will be completed with the exercise scientist present. At the end of both strength and conditioning sessions participants will complete a RPE scale and recovery questionnaire via their phones. Adherence to the intervention will be assessed by the return of the pill boxes. Each participant will be provided a pill box with the correct amount of supplementation required for the duration of the testing.

Strength sessions will be completed at participants own gym, participants will have access to the application MoveHealth (formally TeleHab). Here participants will be able to see what exercises are prescribed and have informative videos explaining how to correctly complete each exercise, there will also be an option for them to write questions that the researcher will be able to see and then answer. Strength sessions will be self-paced and can take anywhere between 45-90 mins to completed and will be prescribed as super-sets, for example block A will be comprised of a squat and then a row, while block B will include a lunge then overhead press.
While conditioning sessions will be run by the researcher and will take 60-90 mins depending on the focus of that sessions. Conditioning sessions will be run in groups (size depending on team).
Intervention code [1] 329785 0
Treatment: Other
Comparator / control treatment
Participants received an opaque capsule containing either curcumin or the placebo. The placebo capsule contained 48.5g of glucose (Glucodin Pure Glucose Energy, Glucodin).
Control group
Placebo

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 339664 0
Recovery
Timepoint [1] 339664 0
Baseline and then daily for the duration of the S&C program.
Secondary outcome [1] 440798 0
Repeated Sprint Ability
Timepoint [1] 440798 0
Baseline and at the completion of the S&C program.
Secondary outcome [2] 440797 0
Countermovement Jump Performance
Timepoint [2] 440797 0
Baseline and at the completion of the S&C program.
Secondary outcome [3] 440799 0
Endurance Performance
Timepoint [3] 440799 0
Baseline and at the completion of the S&C program.
Secondary outcome [4] 440796 0
Creatine Kinase
Timepoint [4] 440796 0
Baseline and at the completion of the S&C program.

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
The inclusion criteria is:
- male and female team sport athletes (i.e., Australian rules football [ARF], football (soccer), field hockey, and rugby).
- currently in their off-season (recently completed a season within the past two months)
- have access to a gym.
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
35 Years
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Participants are excluded if they:
- have current or past injuries that may limit performance
- regularly consume Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
- currently, or in the last four weeks, taking any supplementation containing curcumin or any other anti-inflammatory/antioxidant ingredients
- have current or prior liver problems as per TGA
- have health conditions that may impact exercise participation.

Study design
Purpose of the study
Treatment
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Participants will not know which supplement they will be consuming. Allocation of the supplementation will be completed by the chief investigator, capsule boxes will be handed over to the researcher labelled with the participant ID. All supplements will be within opaque capsules. The researcher will not know what supplements are in which container.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
The first stage will be the process of matching participants. Participants will be matched with another participant based on sex, age and sport. If the recruitment pool is from one sport, a further similarity will be playing position. Once matching is complete, we will use a simple randomisation (coin toss) to decide which participant goes into which condition, this will be completed by the chief investigator.
Masking / blinding
Blinded (masking used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?
The people receiving the treatment/s
The people administering the treatment/s
The people assessing the outcomes
The people analysing the results/data
Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Efficacy
Statistical methods / analysis
A sample size of 18 has a 90 % power to detect a standardised mean difference of 0.41 based on previous research considering countermovement jump as the primary outcome post-supplementation (Foskett et al., 2009). Therefore, the PhD student will recruit 16-20 participants per group to account for any missing data and dropouts whilst still achieving power.
A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to assess the difference in exercise performance, recovery, and blood measures. Data will be expressed as means + standard deviation (SD), unless stated otherwise, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. In addition, Cohen's d effect size (ES) will be calculated to assess the magnitude of any differences. Classification of ES: >0.8 large, 0.5-0.79 moderate, and < 0.49 small effect (Cohen, 1988). Data anaylsis will be performed using R.

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Not yet recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
10/02/2025
Actual
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
14/05/2025
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
30/05/2025
Actual
Sample size
Target
40
Accrual to date
Final
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
VIC

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 317648 0
University
Name [1] 317648 0
Curtin University
Country [1] 317648 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
Curtin University
Address
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 319964 0
None
Name [1] 319964 0
Address [1] 319964 0
Country [1] 319964 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 316347 0
Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee
Ethics committee address [1] 316347 0
Ethics committee country [1] 316347 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 316347 0
06/12/2024
Approval date [1] 316347 0
10/12/2024
Ethics approval number [1] 316347 0
HRE2024-0707

Summary
Brief summary
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 137606 0
Miss Larissa Walsh
Address 137606 0
Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102
Country 137606 0
Australia
Phone 137606 0
+61 417625990
Fax 137606 0
Email 137606 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 137607 0
Larissa Walsh
Address 137607 0
Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102
Country 137607 0
Australia
Phone 137607 0
+61 417625990
Fax 137607 0
Email 137607 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 137608 0
Kagan Ducker
Address 137608 0
Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102
Country 137608 0
Australia
Phone 137608 0
+61 419924263
Fax 137608 0
Email 137608 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will the study consider sharing individual participant data?
No


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided


Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.