DESERT Clinical Trial: Curcumin, Resveratrol, and Stinging Nettle as Treatments for Gulf War Illness
Study Start Date: Now Enrolling
For more information, please email DESERT@uabmc.edu or contact our research coordinator Bailey at (205)975-5850.
To see if you may be eligible to participate, please fill out the following survey: https://uab.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7QBq7JNtdQxvjzo
The objective of this study is to determine if curcumin, resveratrol, and/or stinging nettle effectively reduce Gulf War Illness (GWI) symptom severity and improve quality of life. The project uses a decentralized clinical trial (DCT) design in which individuals can participate from anywhere in the United States. All potential participants will undergo the same screening and experimental procedures. Participants must have been deployed to the Persian Gulf Region during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, meet symptom domain criteria, and not have exclusionary medical conditions. This trial tests three interventions, which are all tested independently. Participants will receive only one of the three interventions. The curcumin, resveratrol, and stinging nettle trials all follow the same design and procedures. Each of the three botanical trials will have 100 GWI participants recruited nationwide, a total of 300 participants for the entire study. Participants will be randomly assigned to a botanical group and will be blinded to which botanical and dosage they are given.
Enrollment Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Meets Kansas GWI Case Definition
- Meets CDC GWI Case Definition
- Able to commit to a 10-month study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Currently involved in an experimental treatment study
- Abnormal liver function values
- Abnormal kidney function values
- Currently pregnant
- Blood clotting disorder (contraindicated with all three botanicals)
- Reported diagnosis of diabetes with an A1C greater than 9
- The use of contraindicated medications (see below):
- Anticoagulant medications (such as warfarin, heparin, etc.)
- Lithium
- Tacrolimus (Prograf)
- Cancer medications (Alkylating agents, antitumor antibiotics, Topoisomerase I inhibitors, Tamoxifen)
For more information on the study, please visit the DESERT clinicaltrials.gov page.
