Endpoint
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
CAT:outcome/erythrocyte-sedimentation-ratereported in mm/h
Method
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate by the Westergren method — the distance red cells fall through an anticoagulated whole-blood column in one hour. Automated alternatives to the Westergren tube are recorded on the edge and are calibrated against it rather than identical to it.
The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.
Notes
Confused with C-reactive protein. Both fall as inflammation resolves, but they run on different time constants — CRP rises and falls within hours to days, this over weeks — and this measure is additionally confounded by anaemia, age, sex, and plasma fibrinogen and immunoglobulin, so a rise can be haematological rather than inflammatory. They are not substitutes, and reviews of overlapping trial sets have reached opposing conclusions on the two. Also an INPUT to DAS28-ESR: recording both from one analysis double-counts the reactant.
Findings
3 findings from 3 compounds, strongest first.
coenzyme Q10 — no detected effect on
Well establishedGrade A, Well established. Replicated human trial evidence, consistent direction.FindingNull result“The differences in the CRP and ESR levels were not significant between CoQ10 and placebo groups (P = 0.550 and P = 0.306, respectively) (Table 2).”
Quoted verbatim from Coenzyme Q10 supplementation in burn patients: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.. - Study
- RCT
- Participants
- 52
- Duration
- 10 days
- Dose
- 100 mg three times a day after meals, total 300 mg/day
- Population
- Adults aged 18-65 with 20-60% total body surface area burns admitted to a burn ICU in Isfahan, Iran, all receiving routine burn care and the unit's standard vitamin, selenium, zinc and B-complex supplementation in both arms; primary outcome.
Coenzyme Q10 supplementation in burn patients: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.2024PMID:38431600
all-cis-5,8,11,14,17-icosapentaenoic acid — decreases
LikelyGrade B, Likely. Human evidence, limited replication or design limits.Finding“Serum ESR and CRP levels significantly decreased in the EPA-rich fish oil (p < 0.001).”
Quoted verbatim from Eicosapentaenoic acid decreases inflammation and improves glucose homeostasis in patients with burns: a randomized clinical trial.. - Study
- RCT
- Participants
- 24
- Duration
- 3 weeks
- Dose
- 1.5 g/day EPA as EPA-rich fish oil capsules (500 mg EPA per capsule, three times daily with meals)
- Population
- Hospitalised adults aged 18-65 with non-severe burns covering less than 20% of total body surface area, able to take more than 90% of their daily calorie requirement by mouth, without diabetes, organ failure, cancer or immune disorder; both the EPA arm and the control arm also received 600 mg/day DHA.
Eicosapentaenoic acid decreases inflammation and improves glucose homeostasis in patients with burns: a randomized clinical trial.2025PMID:41254027
curcumin — decreases
LikelyGrade B, Likely. Human evidence, limited replication or design limits.Finding“We found a conflicting effect of curcumin supplementation on systemic inflammation markers, with a significantly large decrease in the ESR but not in the CRP level ( Table 2).”
Quoted verbatim from A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Nutritional Supplementation on Osteoarthritis Symptoms.. - Study
- meta-analysis
- Population
- patients with knee osteoarthritis; inflammation-marker outcome pooled across the curcumin trials (placebo and active comparators), all studies and timepoints
A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Nutritional Supplementation on Osteoarthritis Symptoms.2022PMID:35458170