While providing further clinical support for in vitro research documenting effects of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, this study showed for the first time that damage to cartilage could be reversed by this combination of agents. The study used specific glucosamine, FCHG49®**, and low molecular weight chondroitin sulfate, TRH122**, agents found exclusively in the joint health supplement, Cosamin®DS, marketed by Nutramax Laboratories, Inc.
In the study, led by G.A. Homandberg, Ph.D. of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, fibronectin fragments were added to cartilage sections to cause a loss of proteoglycans, which are contained within cartilage. Fibronectin fragments are compounds generated during the cycle of cartilage breakdown. Once generated, they then lead to further breakdown of cartilage and inhibit cartilage proteoglycan production with their effects on other mediators involved in the process.
Physiological levels of glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate, alone and in combination, were added either before or after the fibronectin fragments to measure their effects. The researchers concluded that these agents had a synergistic, or better than additive, effect and that the combination worked to protect the cartilage.
The research delineated above was supported by Nutramax Laboratories, Inc.
About Nutramax Laboratories, Inc.:
Nutramax Laboratories, Inc. researches, develops, and markets products to support the active lifestyles of people. Nutramax Laboratories, Inc. Consumer Products Division markets Cosamin®DS joint health supplement, the number one recommended brand by orthopedic surgeons and rheumatologists.
For more information, please contact Nancy Belle at 410-776-4035 or visit us online at www.nutramaxlabs.com
