Has anyone had experiences taking glucosamine/chonroitin? Is it worth the money?
Thanks,
Susan
Follow Ups:
Re: Glucosamine/Chonroitin
Posted by Deb on March 05, 1999 at 22:36:06:
In Reply to: Glucosamine/Chonroitin posted by Susan on March 05, 1999 at 19:49:27:
The short answer is glucosamine - possibly yes as a short term solution, chondroitin - no. But there have been a few threads on this in the last couple of months, which would be worth you searching out.
Deb.
Follow Ups:
Re: Glucosamine/Chonroitin
Posted by Robert McFerra on March 05, 1999 at 23:10:49:
In Reply to: Re: Glucosamine/Chonroitin posted by Deb on March 05, 1999 at 22:36:06:
Deb,
For some reason folks have been miss-informed about the bioavailability of chondroitin. Here is one research study that addresses the question directly. All that I've seen about the LACK of bioavailability seems to be based on hearsay.
Beyond that I KNOW that chondroitin is doing something since I've found that it consistently provides significant relief amoung individuals with arthritis that I have worked with as well as myself. There are multiple, good studies that have shown the effectiveness of chondroitin alone as well as it's use with glucosamine.
Bob
Biochemical and pharmacokinetic aspects of oral treatment with chondroitin sulfate.
Conte A, Volpi N, Palmieri L, Bahous I, Ronca G
Department of Biologia Animale, University of Modena, Italy.
Summary: Chondroitin sulfate (Condrosulf) was characterized for structure, physiochemical properties and purity. This glycosaminoglycan has a relative molecular mass of about 14,000, a sulfate-to-carboxyl ratio of 0.95 due to the high percentage of monosulfated disaccharides (38% 6-monosulfate and 55% 4-monosulfate) and a low amount of disulfated disaccharides (1.1%) inside the polysaccharide chains. No other glycosaminoglycans were detected in the preparation. Chondroitin sulfate was labelled by reduction with sodium 3H-borohydride and administered by oral route in the rat and dog. More than 70% of radioactivity was absorbed and found in urine and tissues. The plasma radioactivity was fractionated by size-exclusion chromatography in three fractions: radioactivity associated with high, intermediate and low molecular mass compounds. The peak value of the concentration of high molecular mass radioactivity compounds in plasma was reached after 1.6 and 2.1 h for the rat and dog, respectively. After 36 h the high molecular mass radioactivity compounds were still present in plasma of dog and rat. After 24 h radioactivity was higher in the intestine, liver, kidneys, synovial fluid and cartilage than in other tissues. Condroitin sulfate was orally administered to man (healthy volunteer) in a single daily dose of 0.8 g and in two daily doses of 0.4 g. The results showed that both forms of administration determined a significant increase of plasma concentration of chondroitin sulfate as compared with predose value over a full 24 h period. Elimination constant values and tmax (of the first administration in the case of fractionated dose) were almost the same for the two administrations.
Source: Arzneimittelforschung 1995 Aug;45(8):918-25
Follow Ups:
Re: Glucosamine/Chonroitin
Posted by Deb on March 06, 1999 at 06:50:02:
In Reply to: Re: Glucosamine/Chonroitin posted by Robert McFerra on March 05, 1999 at 23:10:49:
Thanks, Bob,
All the information I have come across before has said it is not bio-available, for a variety of reasons. It is interesting to see the other side of the coin.
Deb.