Chondroitin Research
42 peer-reviewed studies · Evidence score: 9/10
Safety of Anti-osteoarthritis Medications: A Systematic Literature Review of Post-marketing Surveillance Studies
Honvo G et al. • Drugs (2025)
This SR confirms previous evidence on the safety of anti-OA medications from meta-analyses of phase 3 RCTs.
- This SR confirms previous evidence on the safety of anti-OA medications from meta-analyses of phase 3 RCTs.
- Beyond the evidence here reported, the limitations of this research highlight the urgent need of a reporting guideline for post-marketing safety surveillance studies.
- Importantly, real-life safety surveillance of anti-OA medications should be strengthened with large cohort studies with control groups, and results should be disaggregated by disease populations for drugs common to several conditions.
Chondroitin for knee osteoarthritis: A Cochrane review
Singh JA et al. • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2015)
Chondroitin shows small to moderate benefit for OA pain.
- Small-moderate pain reduction
- Improved function
- Safe profile
Systematic review and network meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of parmacotherapy for hand osteoarthritis
Wu R et al. • PloS one (2024)
In summary, GCSB-5 and CRx-102 exhibit efficacy in alleviating pain and stiffness in HOA, respectively.
- GCSB-5, a specific herbal complex that mainly regulate pain in hand osteoarthritis, showed the greatest reduction in pain [WMD = -13.00, 95% CI (-26.69, 0.69)].
- CRx-102, s specific medication characterized by its significant effect for relieving joint stiffness symptoms, remarkably mitigated stiffness [WMD = -7.50, 95% CI (-8.90, -6.10)].
- Chondroitin sulfate displayed the highest incidence of adverse events [RR = 0.26, 95% CI (0.06, 1.22)].
Efficacy and safety of the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Meng Z et al. • Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery (2023)
Our study confirmed that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin is effective and superior to other treatments in knee osteoarthritis to a certain extent.
- Our study confirmed that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin is effective and superior to other treatments in knee osteoarthritis to a certain extent.
- It is worthwhile to popularize and apply the combination in KOA treatment considering the point of effect, tolerability and economic costs.
- Additionally, regarding the limited number of studies and uneven trial quality, more high-quality trials are required to investigate the accurate clinical advantages of the combination.
The Safety and Efficacy of Glucosamine and/or Chondroitin in Humans: A Systematic Review
Baden KER et al. • Nutrients (2025)
Overall, the evidence suggests that glucosamine and chondroitin are generally effective and well-tolerated, particularly for managing osteoarthritis and joint pain.
- Of the 2013 articles screened, 146 studies were included in our review, with nearly 60% being randomized controlled trials and most conducted in Europe, Asia, or the U.S.
- Most studies focused on osteoarthritis and joint pain, with over 90% of efficacy studies reporting positive outcomes and most safety studies indicating minimal or no adverse effects.
- Overall, the evidence suggests that glucosamine and chondroitin are generally effective and well-tolerated, particularly for managing osteoarthritis and joint pain.
Effectiveness and safety of Glucosamine, chondroitin, the two in combination, or celecoxib in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee
Zeng C et al. • Scientific reports (2015)
The present study provided evidence for the symptomatic efficacy of glucosamine plus chondroitin in the treatment of knee OA.
- All treatment options showed clinically significant improvement from baseline pain, but only glucosamine plus chondroitin showed clinically significant improvement from baseline function.
- In terms of the structure-modifying effect, both glucosamine alone and chondroitin alone achieved a statistically significant reduction in joint space narrowing.
- The present study provided evidence for the symptomatic efficacy of glucosamine plus chondroitin in the treatment of knee OA.
A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Nutritional Supplementation on Osteoarthritis Symptoms
Mathieu S et al. • Nutrients (2022)
Other studies are needed to better assess the effects of omega-3 and vitamin D.
- Pain was the only clinical parameter that significantly decreased.
- Vitamin D supplementation caused a significant decrease in pain and function.
- A significant decrease in inflammatory markers was found, especially with ginger.
Corneal Sealants in Pre-Clinical Development
Tan J et al. • Current eye research (2026)
A variety of corneal sealants and adhesives are in development.
- A variety of corneal sealants and adhesives are in development.
- To seal corneal wounds sealants and adhesive should have a range of properties to prevent leak.
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
Effectiveness and Safety of SYSADOAs Used in Eastern and Western Regions for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials-SYSADOAs Are Effective and Safe for Knee OA
Park YB et al. • Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2025)
Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level II.
- Regarding the safety profile, the risk ratios did not differ significantly between the treatment and control groups, including the placebo and non-placebo subgroups.
- Conclusions: Glucosamine, chondroitin, and SKCPT/SKI306X improved the pain and function and were non-inferior to pharmacologic drugs for up to 12 months.
- These findings support the clinical use of these SYSADOAs to treat knee OA.
Low dose NSAIDs and sysadoas in the management of knee osteoarthritis
Migliore A et al. • Aging clinical and experimental research (2025)
The combination of low dose diclofenac and chondroitin sulfate represents a promising therapeutic strategy for managing knee OA.
- The combination of low dose diclofenac and chondroitin sulfate represents a promising therapeutic strategy for managing knee OA.
- Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and optimize therapeutic strategies to improve patient outcomes.
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
The diagnostic utility of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the early detection of cancer: a systematic review
Douglah S et al. • PeerJ (2024)
GAGs hold potential as early cancer detection biomarkers.
- Heparan sulfate levels showed diagnostic potential in renal cancer with a maximum accuracy of 98.9%, achieving 94.7% specificity and 100% sensitivity.
- However, there were no statistically significant differences in urinary chondroitin sulfate levels between patients and controls in prostate cancer.
- GAGs hold potential as early cancer detection biomarkers.
Role of Glucosamine and Chondroitin in the Prevention of Cancer: A Meta-Analysis
Liu B et al. • Nutrition and cancer (2023)
Moreover, NSAIDs use may have a synergistic protective effect.
- The odds ratio (OR), corresponding to the 95% confidence interval (95% CI), was used to assess the association between chondroitin and/or glucosamine intake and cancer risk.
- Overall, chondroitin and/or glucosamine intake was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer (OR = 0.91, 95% CI, 0.87-0.94) and lung cancer (OR = 0.84, 95% CI, 0.79-0.89).
- Subgroup analysis supported the protective effect of different SYSADOAs (chondroitin and/or glucosamine) intake.
Effects of diet on the outcomes of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs): systematic review and meta-analyses informing the 2021 EULAR recommendations for lifestyle improvements in people with RMDs
Gwinnutt JM et al. • RMD open (2022)
The current literature suggests that there is moderate evidence for a small benefit for certain dietary components.
- The current literature suggests that there is moderate evidence for a small benefit for certain dietary components.
- High-level evidence of clinically meaningful effect sizes from individual dietary exposures on outcomes in RMDs is missing.
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
Association of Pharmacological Treatments With Long-term Pain Control in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Gregori D et al. • JAMA (2018)
In this systematic review and network meta-analysis of studies of patients with knee osteoarthritis and at least 12 months of follow-up, there was uncertainty around the estimates of effect size for change in pain for all comparisons with placebo.
- Associations with improvement in joint space narrowing were found for glucosamine sulfate (SMD, -0.42 [95% CrI, -0.65 to -0.19]), chondroitin sulfate (SMD, -0.20 [95% CrI, -0.31 to -0.07]), and strontium ranelate (SMD, -0.20 [95% CrI, -0.36 to -0.05]).
- In this systematic review and network meta-analysis of studies of patients with knee osteoarthritis and at least 12 months of follow-up, there was uncertainty around the estimates of effect size for change in pain for all comparisons with placebo.
- Larger RCTs are needed to resolve the uncertainty around efficacy of medications for knee osteoarthritis.
Biomedical application of chondroitin sulfate with nanoparticles in drug delivery systems: systematic review
Amhare AF et al. • Journal of drug targeting (2021)
Most of the studies presented baseline characteristics and outcomes appropriately.
- The toxicity of developed drugs has been evaluated using cell viability percentage and 50% inhibitory concentration of drugs.
- Drug loading and encapsulation efficiency were from 2% to 16.1% and from 39.50% to 93.97%, respectively.
- The drug release was fast at start time and followed by a slow and sustain released stage.
Is chondroitin sulfate effective for osteoarthritis?
Rojas-Briones V et al. • Medwave (2017)
We concluded it is not clear whether the use of chondroitin sulfate leads to an improvement in pain or functionality in osteoarthritis because the certainty of the evidence is very low.
- To answer this question we searched in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources.
- We identified 13 systematic reviews including 50 randomized trials overall.
- We extracted data, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach.
Dietary supplements for treating osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Liu X et al. • British journal of sports medicine (2018)
The overall analysis including all trials showed that supplements provided moderate and clinically meaningful treatment effects on pain and function in patients with hand, hip or knee osteoarthritis at short term, although the quality of evidence was very low.
- Another six (undenatured type II collagen, avocado soybean unsaponifiables, methylsulfonylmethane, diacerein, glucosamine and chondroitin) revealed statistically significant improvements on pain, but were of unclear clinical importance.
- Chondroitin demonstrated statistically significant, but not clinically important structural improvement (effect size -0.30, -0.42 to -0.17).
- The overall analysis including all trials showed that supplements provided moderate and clinically meaningful treatment effects on pain and function in patients with hand, hip or knee osteoarthritis at short term, although the quality of evidence was very low.
Meta-analysis: chondroitin for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip
Reichenbach S et al. • Annals of internal medicine (2007)
Large-scale, methodologically sound trials indicate that the symptomatic benefit of chondroitin is minimal or nonexistent.
- Large-scale, methodologically sound trials indicate that the symptomatic benefit of chondroitin is minimal or nonexistent.
- Use of chondroitin in routine clinical practice should therefore be discouraged.
- Further research warranted to confirm findings
Safety of Symptomatic Slow-Acting Drugs for Osteoarthritis: Outcomes of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Honvo G et al. • Drugs & aging (2019)
GS and CS can be considered safe treatments for patients with OA.
- In studies that allowed concomitant OA medications, diacerein was associated with significantly more dermatological disorders (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.42-4.31; I2 = 0%) and more dropouts due to AEs (OR 3.18; 95% CI 1.85-5.47; I2 = 13.4%) than was placebo.
- No significant increase in serious or severe AEs was found with diacerein versus placebo.
- GS and CS can be considered safe treatments for patients with OA.
Effect of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials
Simental-Mendía M et al. • Rheumatology international (2018)
However, there is no additional effect using both therapeutic agents in combination for the management of symptomatic knee OA.
- Their combination did not show this behavior (WMD - 0.28 mm, 95% CI - 8.87, 8.32, p = 0.95).
- None of the glucosamine, chondroitin or their combination had a significant positive effect on the total WOMAC index and its subscores.
- Oral supplementation with glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate reduces pain in knee OA.