According to a new study, glucosamine sulfate combined with chondroitin sulfate reduced joint pain and cartilage damage in an animal model of osteoarthritis.
Researchers induced osteoarthritis in rats. They then gave the rodents either glucosamine alone, glucosamine plus chondroitin or a placebo starting 7 days prior to when the osteoarthritis was induced until 70 days into the study, when the rodents were sacrificed. Joint pain was evaluated daily using the rat-knee joint articular incapacitation test. Structural joint damage also was assessed.
The combination of glucosamine and chondroitin?but not glucosamine alone?significantly reduced joint pain compared to the controls. There was an increase in chondroitin content in the osteoarthritis group given the two nutrients compared to controls. The structural changes that occurred in the cartilage of rats with experimental osteoarthritis also were significantly prevented by administration of both the glucosamine and chondroitin.
The researchers concluded that glucosamine sulfate plus chondroitin sulfate provides analgesic and structural benefits in this animal model of arthritis. They noted that this was the first study to show that the biochemical alterations that occur along with structural damage in osteoarthritis are prevented by glucosamine/chondroitin administration.
Reference:
Silva FS Jr, Yoshinari NH, Castro RR, Gir?o VC, Pompeu MM, de Andrade Feitosa JP, Rocha FA. Combined glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate provides functional and structural benefit in the anterior cruciate ligament transection model. Clin Rheumatol. 2008 Sep 13. Published online ahead of print.
