A short-term, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial has found no evidence that glucosamine chloride leads to structural improvements in patients with arthritis. Patients with mild-to-moderate chronic pain in one or both knees typical of knee osteoarthritis (n = 201) were assigned to receive a drink containing 1,500 mg glucosamine hydrochloride or placebo daily for 24 weeks. Cartilage damage was then assessed by 3T MRI. Patients in the placebo group showed more improvement in terms of bone marrow lesions than those treated with glucosamine hydrochloride (adjusted OR 0.537; 95% CI 0.291–0.990) and cartilage damage was not decreased in the treated group in comparison with the placebo group (adjusted OR 0.938; 95% CI 0.528–1.666).
References
Kwoh, C. K. et al. The Joints on Glucosamine (JOG) Study: the effect of oral glucosamine on joint structure, a randomized trial. Arthritis Rheum. 10.1002/art.38314
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Glucosamine: no evidence of structural benefits. Nat Rev Rheumatol 10, 258 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2014.49
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2014.49