Chondroitin Effective in Osteoarthritis

A prospective, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo and celecoxib (200 mg/day)-controlled trial concluded that a 800 mg/day pharmaceutical-grade Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is superior to placebo and similar to celecoxib in reducing pain and improving function over 6 months in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. The trial included 604 patients of knee osteoarthritis in five European countries and followed for 182 days. CS and celecoxib showed a greater significant reduction in pain on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and in the Lequesne Index (LI, which combines pain and function) than placebo. In the intention-to-treat population, pain reduction in VAS at day 182 in the CS group (−42.6 mm) and in celecoxib group (−39.5 mm) was significantly greater than the placebo group (−33.3 mm). Similar trend for the LI, as reduction in this metric in the CS group (−4.7) and celecoxib group (−4.6) was significantly greater than the placebo group (−3.7). No difference in VAS and LI was observed between CS and celecoxib. All treatments demonstrated excellent safety profiles. The CS tablets contained highly purified chondroitin 4 & 6 sulfate in a concentration not less than 95%. The study confirmed the efficacy and safety of chondroitin. Source: http://ard.bmj.com/