Changes in serum levels of qlucosamine and sulphate after ingestion of glucosqmine sulphate with and without simultaneous ingestion of glucose

摘要

Glucosamine as its chloride or sulphate salt is now in widespread over-the-counter use for the treatment of osteoarthritis, ostensibly by stimulating or stabilizing cartilage chondroitin sulphate. Clinical trials have, however, provided equivocal results concerning its effectiveness,1"5 and measurements of serum and plasma glucosamine levels after ingestion indicate that circulating glucosamine levels are probably too low to have any direct effect on cartilage.Suggestions have been made that the sulphate of glucosamine sulphate might have a positive clinical effect on cartilage as a result of an increase in circulating levels after its ingestion. This may be particularly pertinent because we previously described a 9.3% mean decrease of sulphate levels after three hours of fasting by 14 experimental subjects, with a doubling of this mean decrease to 18.9% by the concomitant ingestion of 75 g glucose. In addition, we have described an effect of glucosamine sulphate ingestion by these subjects on glucose and insulin levels when 75 g glucose was ingested.9 Results were in contrast to other investigations10 that have indicated little or no effect when glucose was ingested the day after the ingestion of glucosamine rather than ingestion at the same time.