Change in Serum Biomarkers in Patients with Osteoarthritis treated with Collagen Hydrolysate: Results of a Prospective Randomized Study

Abstract

Collagen hydrolysate is a nutritional supplement that is used for the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis
As preclinical work had previously shown that collagen hydrolysate stimulates chondrocytes to synthesize extracellular cartilage matrix in a dose-dependent way, it appeared tempting to test whether collagen hydrolysate apart from improving signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis exerts an impact on cartilage morphology, i.e. whether – despite being a nutritional supplement – collagen hydrolysate fulfills the properties of a disease-modifying drug, which is the capacity of changing both structure and symptoms
During the past 20 years, a considerable body of evidence has been created, suggesting that the change of joint space width in the knee is more dependent on the shape of the meniscus [5] and that there is a poor correlation between cartilage morphology as visualized by magnetic resonance imaging and the changes of joint space width as determined by x-ray of the knee [6]