Comparative therapeutic efficacy and safety of type‐II collagen (uc‐II), glucosamine and chondroitin in arthritic dogs: pain evaluation by ground force plate

Abstract

The investigation was conducted on client-owned moderately arthritic dogs with two objectives: (i) to evaluate therapeutic efficacy of type-II collagen (UC-II) alone or in combination with glucosamine hydrochloride (GLU) and chondroitin sulphate (CHO), and (ii) to determine their tolerability and safety. Dogs in four groups (n = 7-10), were treated daily for a period of 150 days with placebo (Group-I), 10 mg active UC-II (Group-II), 2000 mg GLU + 1600 mg CHO (Group-III), and UC-II + GLU + CHO (Group-IV). On a monthly basis, dogs were evaluated for observational pain (overall pain, pain upon limb manipulation, and pain after physical exertion) using different numeric scales. Pain level was also measured objectively using piezoelectric sensor-based GFP for peak vertical force and impulse area. Dogs were also examined every month for physical, hepatic (ALP, ALT and bilirubin) and renal (BUN and creatinine) functions. Based on observations, significant (p < 0.05) reduction in pain was noted in Group-II, III, and IV dogs. Using GFP, significant increases in peak vertical force (N/kg body wt) and impulse area (N s/kg body wt), indicative of a decrease in arthritis associated pain, were observed in Group-II dogs only. None of the dogs in any group showed changes in physical, hepatic or renal functions. In conclusion, based on GFP data, moderately arthritic dogs treated with UC-II (10 mg) showed a marked reduction in arthritic pain with maximum improvement by day 150. UC-II, GLU and CHO operate through different mechanisms of action, and were well tolerated over a period of 150 days.

Evaluation of Terminalia chebula Extract for Anti-Arthritic Efficacy and Safety in Osteoarthritic Dogs

“…Dogs with OA may show clinical signs of limping, stiffness of joints, immobility, crepitus, periarticular swelling, and lameness. Pain associated with inflammation appears to be the most serious sign of OA [3,[11][12][13][14][15][16]30]. As stated in the introduction, pathophysiology of OA is very complex due to involvement of multiple factors [18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…A dog was considered moderately arthritic when exhibiting overall pain of about 5 on the scale of 0-10; pain after limb manipulation about 2 on the scale of 0-4; and pain after physical exertion about 2 on the scale of 0-4. Details of pain measurement criteria by observations have been described in our previous publications [13,16,30,62].…”

“…In a clinical setting, veterinarians make a diagnosis of OA in dogs based upon physical examination and radiographic evidence [2,13,16,20,29,30]. CT scan and/or MRI findings reveal changes of the joint and cartilage degeneration, which are consistent with OA, but are limited to humans and experimental studies [31][32][33].…”

“…In the past two decades, among all nutraceuticals, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate have been predominantly used in the treatment of canine OA [13,[58][59][60][61]. In clinical trials, nutraceuticals such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate and/or undenatured type II collagen [13,[60][61][62] Crominex® -3+ [16] purified shilajit [30], avocado/soybean unsaponifiables [63], green lipped mussel [35,64] and curcumin [65] have been found significantly effective in ameliorating OA pain and have shown to be safe for long-term use in canines.…”

“…Often, large breed dogs (German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Siberian Huskies, Rottweilers, and others) are prone to develop OA (>45%) as compared to smaller breeds [9,10]. Common clinical signs of OA include limping, immobility, stiffness of joints, crepitus, periarticular swelling, and pain upon manipulation of the joint and lameness [3,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”