Glucosamine shows great therapeutic potential in the treatment of degenerative osteoarthritis. - GreenMedInfo Summary

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the results of glucosamine hydrochloride in the treatment of knee degenerative osteoarthritis (DOA). METHODS: From February 2006 to January 2007, 60 patients with knee DOA were treated with glucosamine hydrochloride, including 15 males and 45 females. The ages of patients ranged from 41 to 67 years with an average age of 57.5 years. The disease course ranged from 6 months to 3 years. Oral glucosamine hydrochloride was given twice a day, each 750 mg, for a 6-week course of treatment; another course of treatment was repeated after 4 months. After two courses of treatment, the international standard DOA score of Lequesne index was used to evaluate the rest of knee pain, sports pain, tenderness, joints activity, morning stiffness and walking ability. RESULTS: All 60 patients finished treatment, various clinical symptoms for DOA disappeared completely in 31 cases and subsided in 27 cases; the cure rate was 51.7% and the total response rate was 96.7%. The scores of rest pain, sport pain, tenderness, joints activity, morning stiffness and the ability to walk for knee after treatment were 0.5+/-0.2, 0.7+/-0.4, 0.8+/-0.3, 0.9+/-0.4, 0.6+/-0.3 and 0.9+/-0.4, showing statistically significant differences (P<0.01) when compared with preoperation (1.6+/-0.5, 2.1+/-0.4, 2.2+/-0.5, 1.8+/-0.6, 1.7+/-0.4 and 2.0+/-0.4). Adverse effect occurred in 3 cases (5%) and the patients recovered without special treatment. CONCLUSION: Glucosamine hydrochloride can cure knee DOA with symptom-relieving and joint function-improving action.