A large, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2006; 354(8):795–808) examined the effects of glucosamine and chondroitin supplementation on knee pain due to osteoarthritis. The study was part of the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT) and included 1,583 participants.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of five interventions for 24 weeks: celecoxib (Celebrex), glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin, or placebo.
Treatment success was defined as at least a 20% reduction in knee pain from baseline to week 24. In the overall study population, 60.1% of participants in the placebo group met this threshold, compared with 66.6% of those receiving the glucosamine–chondroitin combination. By comparison, 70.1% of participants receiving celecoxib experienced a similar level of pain reduction.
When results were analyzed by baseline pain severity, the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin appeared to perform differently. Among participants with moderate to severe knee pain at baseline, 79.2% of those receiving the supplement combination met the response criteria, compared with lower response rates in the placebo group.
The authors noted that while the combination supplement did not demonstrate a strong effect in the overall study population, the findings in the subgroup with moderate to severe pain suggested a potential differential response that warranted further investigation. There are some well-researched ways to naturally reduce arthritis pain and improve joint function.
