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Osteoarthritis

Chondroitin sulfate — CONCEPT clear, uncertainties unchanged

The newly published findings from the Chondroitin Versus Celecoxib Versus Placebo Trial (CONCEPT) underscore the complexity of performing clinical trials in the field of knee osteoarthritis. But do the results of CONCEPT merit the consideration of chondroitin sulfate as a first-line therapy?

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Figure 1: Variations in osteoarthritis pain characteristics and severity over time.

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Olga Sánchez-Pernaute and Jorge A. Roman-Blas (both in the Bone and Joint Research Unit, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jimenez Díaz, Madrid, Spain) for critical reading of the manuscript. The research of G.H-B and R.L. is supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI15/00340 and PI16/00065) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).

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Correspondence to Gabriel Herrero-Beaumont.

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Herrero-Beaumont, G., Largo, R. Chondroitin sulfate — CONCEPT clear, uncertainties unchanged. Nat Rev Rheumatol 13, 576–577 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2017.131

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