Chondroitin, Collagen, Eggshell Membrane…Oh My! More Research for Joint Health

When it comes to ingredients for healthy joints, glucosamine’s [link] not the only game in town. Chondroitin, collagen, and eggshell membrane are also players, and a recent spate of research from suppliers further lends evidence.

TSI (Missoula, MT) announced results from a large, two-year published study showing that its Pureflex low-molecular-weight chondroitin sulfate, when added to a glucosamine supplement, helped significantly reduce loss of knee cartilage. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study-dubbed the Long-Term Evaluation of Glucosamine Sulfate (LEGS)-study involved 605 subjects. For two years, subjects were given a daily dose comprising 1500 mg of glucosamine and 800 mg of TSI’s chondroitin. By measuring cartilage loss by way of knee joint space narrowing (JSN), researchers found that JSN reduction was almost twice that experienced by the placebo group.

Certified Nutraceuticals (Murrieta, CA) is highlighting a 60-day study on 20 human subjects with confirmed joint injuries. In the study, subjects were given either placebo or 1500 or 2500 mg of the company’s KollaGen II-xs ingredient-chicken sternum collagen type II powder hydrolysate comprising hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, glucosamine compounds, and amino acids. Researchers concluded that supplementation helped to increase flexibility in seven days (33.3% increase; P=0.035). Within 60 days, supplementation decreased general pain (91.6% reduction; P=0.005) and range-of-motion-associated pain (78.8% reduction; P=0.001) and increased flexibility (68.5% increase; P=0.004). The company advises that KollaGen II-xs be taken four times/day in 500-mg doses.

Finally, ESM Technologies (Carthage, MO) says that a new animal study, published in Modern Research in Inflammation, provides further evidence of the mechanism of action by which the company’s NEM brand of eggshell membrane, marketed for joint health, helps to maintain a normal inflammatory response. In the in vivo tests, rats showed a reduction in numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines. In initial studies, rats had up to an 88% reduction in cytokines that occur later in the inflammatory cascade-e.g., MCP-1, MIP-1 beta, RANTES, and VEGF-the firm said. Additional studies showed a 40–44%, significant reduction in IL-1 beta, a key inflammation mediator. “Taken together, these studies establish that oral supplementation with NEM can influence quite a number of cytokines associated with the progression of cartilage destruction within joints, providing a plausible basis for the mechanism of action of NEM in vivo…[T]his serves as an important step in explaining its observed clinical efficacy seen in multiple human studies,” the company says.