Rose hip powder and osteoarthritis: dose per body weight matters
What it found
In a 12-week trial in 120 people with hip or knee osteoarthritis, rose hip powder and placebo both improved pain and function by over 50%, with no clear difference between the groups.
When the researchers looked at dose per kilogram of body weight, only the rose hip group showed greater improvement with higher doses.
What they found
Studies in people
Pain and function
Both the rose hip and placebo groups improved by over 50% in pain and function scores at 6 and 12 weeks. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant.
Dose per body weight
In the rose hip group, people who received more milligrams per kilogram of body weight had greater improvement in pain and function. This pattern was not seen in the placebo group.
Weight and response
Participants weighing over 84 kg showed minimal or no improvement in the rose hip group, while lighter participants improved more. No such pattern appeared in the placebo group.
Supporting studies
Two other studies using the same rose hip product also found a link between higher dose per kilogram and greater pain relief in the active groups, but not in the placebo groups.
What the authors conclude
“A simple dose–response correlation approach using body-weight-adjusted exposure revealed pharmacologic effects of Rosa-canina that were not apparent from conventional between-group comparisons.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that a simple dose-response correlation approach using body-weight-adjusted exposure revealed effects of Rosa-canina that were not apparent from standard between-group comparisons.
- They suggest that this method may help identify active preparations and support dose selection in future studies.
- They note that the approach seems reproducible as it was demonstrated in three different studies using the same product.
How it was done
Large placebo responses in osteoarthritis trials can hide real effects of treatments, including new foods. The authors wanted to test a simple method to tell genuine effects from placebo responses.
They reanalyzed data from a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 120 people with mild to moderate hip or knee osteoarthritis. Participants took either standardized rose hip powder (5 g/day for 3 weeks, then 2.5 g/day for 9 weeks) or a placebo. The researchers calculated how much rose hip each person received per kilogram of body weight and checked whether that amount was linked to symptom improvement.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a secondary analysis of one trial, so the findings need confirmation in other studies.
- The method assumes that exposure is proportional to dose per kilogram, but individual differences in metabolism and absorption could affect results.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- Mansoura University, Egypt; Oslo University Hospital, Norway; University of Copenhagen, Denmark
The paper
- Title
- Using Dose-Response Correlation Re-Analyzing to Distinguish Placebo from Standardized Rose-Hip Powder (Lito) in a Clinical Trial on Osteoarthritis Where Data Initially Looked Identical
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Motawei AM, Warholm KM, Winther K (2026). Using Dose-Response Correlation Re-Analyzing to Distinguish Placebo from Standardized Rose-Hip Powder (Lito) in a Clinical Trial on Osteoarthritis Where Data Initially Looked Identical. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu18020331Free full textPubMed 41599942DOI
Summary written 29 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error