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Chondroitin

Specific Recommendations:

• Chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com and iHerb
• Chondroitin sulfate at iHerb.com
• Glucosamine chondroitin formulas at Amazon.com

News & Research:

• Scientists reverse age-related memory loss in mice - Science Daily, 7/22/21 - "Recent evidence has emerged of the role of perineuronal nets (PNNs) in neuroplasticity -- the ability of the brain to learn and adapt -- and to make memories. PNNs are cartilage-like structures that mostly surround inhibitory neurons in the brain. Their main function is to control the level of plasticity in the brain. They appear at around five years old in humans, and turn off the period of enhanced plasticity during which the connections in the brain are optimised. Then, plasticity is partially turned off, making the brain more efficient but less plastic ... PNNs contain compounds known as chondroitin sulphates. Some of these, such as chondroitin 4-sulphate, inhibit the action of the networks, inhibiting neuroplasticity; others, such as chondroitin 6-sulphate, promote neuroplasticity. As we age, the balance of these compounds changes, and as levels of chondroitin 6-sulphate decrease, so our ability to learn and form new memories changes, leading to age-related memory decline"
• Chondroitin sulfate as good as widely used anti-inflammatory for knee osteoarthritis - Science Daily, 5/23/17 - "They conclude that a daily dose of 800 mg of pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate is better than a dummy product and as good as celecoxib in reducing pain and improving joint function in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis" - See chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com.
• Chrondroitin outperforms celecoxib in knee osteoarthritis study - Science Daily, 11/7/15 - "studied 194 people with knee OA and inflammation of the synovial membrane in the knee. The participants were followed for two years and were divided into two groups. The first group took 1200mg (pharmacological preparation) of chondroitin daily, and the second group took 200mg of celecoxib daily ... At both one and two years, the researchers found a better reduction of cartilage loss in the whole knee, and more particularly in the inner half, of the participants on chondroitin when compared to those on celecoxib. Additionally, there was a decrease in synovial membrane thickness in some of the participants on chondroitin, showing far better results for this group ... This study demonstrates that both chondroitin sulfate and celecoxib are equally effective at reducing the symptoms of knee OA patients. However, only chondroitin sulfate was found to be capable of slowing down the progression of the disease by reducing the loss of cartilage"
• Chondroitin/Glucosamine Reduced Pain in Knee Arthritis in RCT - Medscape, 1/30/15 - "a combination glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate product produced a 50.1% decrease in Western Ontario and McMaster OA index (WOMAC) pain, which is comparable to the 50.2% decrease seen in patients randomly assigned to receive celecoxib ... Patients received either chondroitin sulfate 400 mg plus glucosamine hydrochloride 500 mg (CS+GH; Droglican, Bioibérica SA) three times a day or celecoxib 200 mg every day for 6 months"
• Association Between use of Specialty Dietary Supplements and C-Reactive Protein Concentrations - Medscape, 12/28/12 - "In summary, this study adds support to laboratory research and to some human studies which suggest that glucosamine, chondroitin, and fish oil may reduce systemic inflammation. In doing so, this study adds biologic plausibility to previous studies which have shown beneficial effects of these supplements on chronic diseases. Given the number of diseases with which inflammation is associated, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, there is a need to find safe and effective ways to reduce inflammation. Research suggests that these 3 supplements have excellent safety profiles, [88–92] supporting their potential role in disease prevention" - See glucosamine products at Amazon.com, chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com, Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Fish Oil May Reduce Inflammation - Medscape, 11/27/12 - "Inflammation is now recognized as a factor in cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as many rheumatoid diseases ... the researchers found hs-CRP reductions of 17% (95% confidence interval [CI], 7% - 26%) with glucosamine, 22% (95% CI, 8% - 33%) with chondroitin, and 16% (95% CI, 0.3% - 29%) with fish oil compared with participants who did not take the supplements"
• In People with Hand Osteoarthritis, Chondroitin Sulphate Therapy for 6 Months Improves Pain and Function Compared With Placebo - Medscape, 11/20/12 - "Osteoarthritis of the finger joints is present in about 10% of individuals aged 40 to 49, rising to 92% in individuals over 70 years of age ... Patients were of either sex, aged 40 years and older and given 800 mg of chondroitin sulphate as a single tablet each day or placebo for a total period of 6 months. The chondroitin preparation contained highly purified chondroitins 4 and 6 sulphate of fish origin ... Improvement in the patient's assessment of global hand pain on the VAS was significantly more pronounced in the chondroitin sulphate group than in the placebo group. The decrease in the FIHOA score demonstrated similar pattern. The relative benefit of chondroitin sulphate on both primary end points became evident only after 3 months of treatment. No serious adverse reaction occurred in any study patients"
• Joint Supplements for Aromatase Inhibitor Adverse Effects - Medscape, 11/18/11 - "Aromatase inhibitors are widely used in the treatment of breast cancer but are associated with significant musculoskeletal adverse effects, including joint pain and stiffness ... We know that these symptoms are unresponsive to conventional pain medication and often lead to low adherence to aromatase inhibitor therapy ... The cohort consisted of postmenopausal breast cancer patents with stage I to III disease who had been on aromatase therapy for at least 3 months, who reported a pain rating of 4 or higher on a 10-point visual analog scale, and whose pain worsened after initiating treatment with aromatase inhibitors if they had preexisting osteoarthritis ... Participants took 1500 mg/day of glucosamine and 1200 mg/day of chondroitin, and were evaluated every 6 weeks at the clinic ... There was a drop in pain and stiffness in the hips and knees at 12 and 24 weeks, as well as improvement in function. "This affected about 50% of the women," she explained. "We saw a very similar pattern looking at the hands and the wrist. We saw similar results with the Brief Pain/Stiffness Inventory — with about 35% to 50% of women.""
• Chondroitin sulfate improves hand function, relieves morning stiffness caused by osteoarthritis, study finds - Science Daily, 9/6/11 - "OA -- the most common form of arthritis -- affects more than 27 million adults in the U.S., causing joint pain and stiffness ... 20% to 30% of adults have OA of the hand, with the prevalence rising to more than 50% after 60 years of age ... Participants received either 800 mg of chondroitin sulfate (80 patients) or placebo (82 patients) once daily for 6 months ... patients in the chondroitin sulfate group had significant decrease in global hand pain compared with the placebo group, reflecting an 8.7 decrease on the VAS. Hand function also improved significantly for those taking chondroitin sulfate, decreasing more than 2 points on the FIHOA. Researchers also reported significantly improved hand function and reduction in morning stiffness for participants taking chondroitin sulfate versus placebo ... Alternative therapies, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), provide similar pain reducing effects, but with considerably more long-term toxicities"
• Chondroitin Slows Progression And Relieves Symptoms Of Knee Osteoarthritis - Science Daily, 1/29/09 - "long-term administration of CS over 2 years can prevent joint structure degradation in patients with knee OA ... Joint space loss was significantly reduced in the CS group, fewer patients had progression of joint space width, and CS reduced pain in those taking it compared to the placebo group. CS was well-tolerated and there were no significant differences in the frequency of adverse events between the two groups"
• Chondroitin No Help for Arthritis Pain - WebMD, 4/16/07
• Joint Supplements (Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM) review - ConsumerLab.com, 4/12/07 - "eight supplements for osteoarthritis failed ConsumerLab's testing. Four of had less than 8% of their listed amounts of key ingredients, including a "maximum strength" product that contained no chondroitin at all. Three others had only 52% to 75% of listed ingredients. One failed because it would not properly break apart to release its glucosamine and chondroitin"
• Arthritis supplements often come up short - MSNBC, 4/11/07 - "All the problems popped up among products that claimed to contain chondroitin, a key — and pricey — ingredient. Of 11 such brands, eight came up short on the substance, which is purported to inhibit enzymes that break down the cartilage in joints"
• Efficacy of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate May Depend on Level of Osteoarthritis Pain - Doctor's Guide, 2/24/06
• Efficacy Of Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulfate May Depend On Level Of Osteoarthritis Pain - Science Daily, 2/23/06 - "The popular dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate proved no better than a placebo in relieving osteoarthritis knee pain in most participants of a major national trial. But the study, published in the Feb. 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, also showed a smaller subgroup of trial patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis knee pain taking the combination of the two supplements experienced significant pain relief"
• Arthritis Supplements in Question - WebMD, 2/22/06 - "Osteoarthritis patients with mild pain treated for six months with the glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, either alone or in combination, experienced no greater pain relief than patients randomly assigned to take a placebo ... Those with moderate to severe knee pain who took a combination of the two supplements did report significantly greater pain relief than patients with the same degree of pain who took a placebo"
• Popular supplements fail to ease arthritis pain - MSNBC, 2/22/06 - "The popular supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate — once used even by President Bush — were no better than dummy pills at pain relief ... At the same time, the supplements did seem to help people with more severe arthritis"
• New NIH Study Confirms that Chondroitin and Glucosamine Are Effective Against Osteoarthritis - Doctor's Guide, 11/16/05 - "the combination of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine is effective in treating moderate to severe knee pain due to ostearthritis"
• Supplements May Help Knee Arthritis - WebMD, 11/14/05 - "patients with more severe arthritis pain got significant relief from the glucosamine-chondroitin combination"
• Treating and Beating Arthritis - US News, 6/27/05 - "One popular supplement, called glucosamine-chondroitin, really seems to work"
• Good News for People with Osteoarthritis - Healthwell, 5/20/04 - "People who experience pain and poor joint function in the knees due to osteoarthritis (OA) may reduce symptoms by intermittently taking oral chondroitin sulfate"
• Oral Chondroitin Sulfate Appears Safe, Effective in Reducing Pain, Improving Knee Function In Knee Osteoarthritis - Doctor's Guide, 4/2/04
• Chondroitin Sulfate Decreases Pain and Improves Knee Function in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis - Doctor's Guide, 3/31/04 - "Oral chondroitin sulfate (CS) appears to decrease pain and improve knee function in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), say researchers. In addition, CS may inhibit medial femoro-tibial joint space narrowing, suggesting that the treatment has structure-modifying properties"
• Glucosamine, Chondroitin Seem to Work - WebMD, 7/17/03
• Glucosamine Has Structural/Symptomatic Efficacy while Chondroitin Has Symptomatic Efficacy in Knee Osteoarthritis - Doctor's Guide, 7/17/03 - "Glucosamine has structural efficacy and both glucosamine and chondroitin have indistinguishable symptomatic efficacies in knee osteoarthritis"
• Topical Glucosamine/Chondroitin Cream Relieves Knee Osteoarthritic Pain - Doctor's Guide, 4/14/03
• Natural Remedies for Osteoarthritis: Now, More than Ever - New Hope Natural Media, 8/15/02 - "The most widely used product is glucosamine sulfate. Numerous studies have shown that this substance, which helps rebuild damaged cartilage, relieves pain at least as effectively as NSAIDs, and is relatively free of side effects ... Chondroitin sulfate, a component of the connective tissue that makes up joint cartilage, has also been studied extensively ... Some doctors recommend niacinamide (vitamin B3) ... Other natural substances that have been reported to relieve the symptoms of OA include vitamin E (600 to 1,200 IU per day), Devil's claw, cat's claw and ginger root"
• New Concepts Of Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis And Management Guidelines - Doctor's Guide, 6/14/01 - "Nutraceuticals, such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, have been shown to relieve pain in a number of studies and modify the pathophysiology of the disease"
• Chondroitin Eases Pain, Too - Nutrition Science News, 4/01
• Chondroitin Sulfate a Big Hit - Nutrition Science News, 7/00
• Glucosamine vs. Chondroitin - Nutrition Science News, 7/00
• NIH conducts large study into promising reports of glucosamine easing arthritis pain - CNN, 4/7/00
• Joint Remedies Face Off - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• Chondroitin & Glucosamine: New Forms Stand Up to Arthritis - Life Enhancement Magazine, 5/99

Abstracts:

• Role of Glucosamine and Chondroitin in the Prevention of Cancer: A Meta-Analysis - Nutr Cancer 2023 Jan 30 - "The anti-inflammatory properties of glucosamine and chondroitin suggest that they may have potential effects in cancer prevention ... Overall, chondroitin and/or glucosamine intake was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer (OR = 0.91, 95% CI, 0.87-0.94) and lung cancer (OR = 0.84"  - See glucosamine chondroitin formulas at Amazon.com.
• Chondroitin Sulfate Enhances Proliferation and Migration via Inducing β-Catenin and Intracellular ROS as Well as Suppressing Metalloproteinases through Akt/NF-κB Pathway Inhibition in Human Chondrocytes - J Nutr Health Aging 2022 - "Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is found in humans' cartilage, bone, cornea, skin, and arterial wall. It consists of the foundation substance in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of connective tissue. The oral supplement form of CS is clinically used in treating osteoarthritis (OA) ... reactive oxygen species (ROS) ... CS induced cell proliferation and migration of chondrocytes by inducing β-catenin and enhancing ROS production. Moreover, our studies demonstrated that CS can increase the activity of chondrocytes and help patients with osteoarthritis to restore cartilage function" - See chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com.
• Influence of a low-dose supplementation of curcumagalactomannoside complex (CurQfen) in knee osteoarthritis: A randomized, open-labeled, active-controlled clinical trial - Phytother Res 2020 Nov 18 - "A 6-week, randomized, open-label, active-controlled clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the influence of a low-dose curcumagalactomannosides (CGM) (400 mg once daily) in OA subjects. The treatment was compared with a standard combination of 500 mg glucosamine hydrochloride (GLN) and 415 mg chondroitin sulphate (CHN), supplied as a single oral dose twice a day. Out of 84 subjects randomized, 72 subjects who have completed the study were evaluated for the safety and efficacy of the treatments at baseline and subsequent visits (day 28 and 42), by measuring walking performance, VAS, KPS, and WOMAC scores. CGM exhibited 47.02, 21.43, and 206% improvement in VAS, KPS, and walking performance, respectively, compared to the baseline. Similarly, there was 31.17, 32.93, 36.44, and 35% improvement in the pain, stiffness, physical function, and total WOMAC scores. CGM also caused a substantial reduction in the serum inflammatory marker levels. The results indicate that a short-term supplementation of a low dosage CGM exerted superior beneficial effects than a high-dosage CHN-GLN combination in alleviating the pain and symptoms of OA subjects" - [Nutra USA] - See CurQfen at Amazon.com, curcumin at Amazon.com and iHerb and fenugreek at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Glucosamine and chondroitin supplements and risk of colorectal adenoma and serrated polyp - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020 Oct 14 - "Analyses include 43,163 persons from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), and NHS2 who reported on glucosamine/chondroitin use in 2002 and who subsequently underwent ≥1 lower gastrointestinal endoscopy ... Glucosamine/chondroitin use was inversely associated with high-risk and any conventional adenoma in NHS and HPFS: in the pooled multivariable-adjusted model, glucosamine+chondroitin use at baseline was associated with a 26% (OR=0.74, 95% CI=0.60-0.90, P-heterogeneity=0.23) and a 10% (OR=0.90, 95% CI=0.81-0.99, P-heterogeneity=0.36) lower risk of high-risk adenoma and overall conventional adenoma, respectively. However, no association was observed in NHS2, a study of younger women (high-risk adenoma: OR=1.09, 95% CI=0.82-1.45; overall conventional adenoma: OR=1.00, 95% CI=0.86-1.17), and effect estimates pooled across all three studies were not significant (high-risk: OR=0.83; 95% CI=0.63-1.10, P-heterogeneity=0.03; overall conventional adenoma: OR=0.93" - See glucosamine hydrochloride at Amazon.com and iHerb and chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Responder Profile to Pharmaceutical-Grade Chondroitin Sulfate: An Analysis of the CONCEPT Trial - Adv Ther 2020 Sep 21 - "The treatment of OA with CS has the highest chance of success if administered in the early stage of the disease" - See chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Curcumagalactomannoside/Glucosamine Combination Improved Joint Health Among Osteoarthritic Subjects as Compared to Chondroitin Sulfate/Glucosamine: Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Study - J Altern Complement Med 2020 Jul 14 - "A combination of curcumagalactomannosides (CGM) (400 mg) with glucosamine hydrochloride (GLN) (500 mg) was evaluated against a standard dietary supplement combination chondroitin sulfate (CHN) (415 mg)/GLN (500 mg) for their effectiveness in alleviating the pain and symptoms among osteoarthritic subjects ... CGM-GLN was found to offer significant beneficial effects to pain, stiffness, and physical function of OA subjects compared with CHN-GLN, which was evident from the improvement in walking performance, VAS score, KPS score, and WOMAC score. The efficiency of CGM-GLN was almost double compared with the CHN-GLN by the end of the study (84th day). A significant reduction of inflammatory serum marker levels was observed among CGM-GLN subjects compared with CHN-GLN subjects. Compared with the baseline, CGM-GLN produced 54.52%, 59.08%, and 22.03% reduction in IL-1β, IL-6, and sVCAM levels, respectively. Whereas CHN-GLN group of subjects expressed only 23.17%, 21.38%, and 6.82% reduction in IL-1β, IL-6, and sVCAM levels, respectively" - [Nutra USA] - See curcumin at Amazon.com and iHerb and glucosamine hydrochloride at Amazon.com and iHerb.
• Sturgeon (Acipenser)-Derived Chondroitin Sulfate Suppresses Human Colon Cancer HCT-116 Both In Vitro and In Vivo by Inhibiting Proliferation and Inducing Apoptosis - Nutrients. 2020 Apr 17 - "Chondroitin sulfate (CS), mainly present in the cartilage and bone of animals, is known as a potential food-derived bioactive that has several biological functions, such as anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activity ... sturgeon-derived chondroitin sulfate (SCS) ... The in vitro study indicated that SCS could inhibit the proliferation of the human colon cancer cell line HCT-116 in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with cell cycle arrest. In addition, SCS also led to extensive cellular apoptosis in colon cancer cell HCT-116 cells. Meanwhile, an in vivo study showed that SCS treatment significantly inhibited the tumor development of xenograft HCT-116 in mice via proliferation suppression and apoptosis induction. Further, a mechanistic study demonstrated that the apoptosis induction was mainly due to the activation of the Bcl-2 family-associated mitochondrial pathway. Overall, our results provided a basis for SCS as a promising agent against colon cancer"
• Novel Hydrolyzed Chicken Sternal Cartilage Extract Improves Facial Epidermis and Connective Tissue in Healthy Adult Females: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - Altern Ther Health Med. 2019 Jun 13 - "The intervention consisted of twice daily oral administration of a supplement containing BioCell Collagen, a chicken sternal cartilage derived dietary ingredient composed of a naturally-occurring matrix of hydrolyzed collagen type-II (≥300 mg), chondroitin sulfate (≥100 mg), hyaluronic acid (≥50 mg) ... For the 113 participants completing the study, the dietary supplementation compared to a placebo: (1) significantly reduced facial lines and wrinkles (P = .019) and crow's feet lines and wrinkles (P = .05), (2) increased skin elasticity (P = .008) and cutaneous collagen content (P < .001) by 12%, (3) improved indicators associated with a more youthful skin appearance based on visual grading and wrinkle width (P = .046), and (4) decreased skin dryness and erythema. No difference existed between the supplement and the placebo for skin-surface water content or retention. The supplement was well tolerated, with no reported adverse reactions" - [Nutra USA] - See BioCell Collagen at Amazon.com, collagen UC-II at Amazon, hyaluronic acid at Amazon.com and chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com.
• Treatment with chondroitin sulfate to modulate inflammation and atherogenesis in obesity - Atherosclerosis. 2015 Dec 13;245:82-87 - "chondroitin sulfate (CS) ... CS interferes with the pro-inflammatory activation of monocytes and endothelial cells driven by TNF-α thus reducing the propagation of inflammation and preventing the formation of atherosclerotic plaques"
• Associations Between Glucosamine and Chondroitin Supplement Use and Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation - J Altern Complement Med. 2014 Apr 16 - "high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) ... urinary prostaglandin E2-metabolite (PGE-M) ... High users (14 or more pills/week) of chondroitin had 36% lower hsCRP (ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-1.04; p for trend=.03) and 27% lower PGE-M (ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.5-0.98; p for trend=.07) than nonusers. Compared with nonusers, high users of glucosamine had 28% lower hsCRP (ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.47-1.08; p for trend=.09) and 24% lower PGE-M (ratio, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.59-0.97; p for trend=0.10)" - See chondroitin sulfate at Amazon.com and glucosamine products at Amazon.com.
• Use of glucosamine and chondroitin supplements and risk of colorectal cancer - Cancer Causes Control. 2013 Mar 26 - "Participants include 75,137 western Washington residents aged 50-76 who completed the mailed VITAL questionnaire between 2000 and 2002. Use of glucosamine and chondroitin was ascertained by questions about supplement use during the 10-year period prior to baseline, and participants were followed for CRC through 2008 ... Persons reporting use of glucosamine + chondroitin on 4+ days/week for 3+ years had a non-statistically significant 45 % lower CRC risk than non-users"
• Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate as therapeutic agents for knee and hip osteoarthritis - Drugs Aging. 2007;24(7):573-80 - "glucosamine sulfate (but not glucosamine hydrochloride) and chondroitin sulfate have small-to-moderate symptomatic efficacy in OA ... glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate may interfere with progression of OA"
• Do glucosamine and chondroitin worsen blood sugar control in diabetes? - J Fam Pract. 2006 Dec;55(12):1091-3 - "Despite theoretical risks based on animal models given high intravenous doses, glucosamine/chondroitin (1500 mg/1200 mg daily) does not adversely affect short-term glycemic control for patients whose diabetes is well-controlled, or for those without diabetes or glucose intolerance"
• Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and the two in combination for painful knee osteoarthritis - N Engl J Med. 2006 Feb 23;354(8):795-808
• The Effect of Glucosamine-Chondroitin Supplementation on Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:1587-1590 - "oral glucosamine supplementation does not result in clinically significant alterations in glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus"