Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative inflammatory condition of the joint cartilage that currently affects approximately 58 million adults in the world. It is characterized by pain, stiffness, and a reduced range of motion with regard to the arthritic joints. These symptoms can cause in the long term a greater risk of overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, and falls and fractures. Although the current guidelines for the treatment of OA suggest, as the gold standard for this condition, pharmacological treatment characterized by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), opioids, and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-specific drugs, a great interest has been applied to nutraceutical supplements, which include a heterogeneous class of molecules with great potential to reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, pain, and joint stiffness and improve cartilage formation. The purpose of this review is to describe the potential application of nutraceuticals in OA, highlighting its molecular mechanisms of actions and data of efficacy and safety (when available).
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative inflammatory condition of the joint cartilage that currently affects approximately 58 million adults, with an estimated increase to 78.4 million by 2040 [1]
In recent years, a great interest has been applied to nutraceutical supplements, which include a heterogeneous class of molecules with great potential to reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, pain, and joint stiffness and improve cartilage formation [8]
We focused our literature search on the search for the most clinically studied dietary supplements using as key words on PubMed “Osteoarthritis”, “Nutraceuticals”, “Dietary supplements”, “Randomized”, and “Clinical trials”
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative inflammatory condition of the joint cartilage that currently affects approximately 58 million adults, with an estimated increase to 78.4 million by 2040 [1]. The first approach includes pharmacological treatment, which is characterized by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opioids, and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2-specific drugs It has only a “palliative” role by reducing symptoms but not considering the essential problem of the cartilage disorder. The second approach regards lifestyle change, a non-pharmacological approach characterized by rehabilitation to facilitate healthy body composition, physical activity, and the optimization of an appropriate nutrition plan and a nutraceutical treatment [6]. In this context, a chronic nutritional intervention associated with conventional therapies demonstrated to improve OA condition (joint of knee, hip, and hand) compared with only pharmacological treatments [7]. For evaluation of OA pain intensity, the most common criteria include the visual analog scale (VAS) or numerical rating scale (NRS), the pain subscale of the Western Ontario and McMaster
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