Eggshell membrane: A possible new natural therapeutic for joint and connective tissue disorders. Results from two open-label human clinical studies

Abstract

Background:Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM®) is a novel dietary supplement that contains naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans and proteins essential for maintaining healthy joint and connective tissues. Two single center, open-label human clinical studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NEM® as a treatment for pain and inflexibility associated with joint and connective tissue disorders.Methods:Eleven (single-arm trial) and 28 (double-arm trial) patients received oral NEM® 500 mg once daily for four weeks. The primary outcome measure was to evaluate the change in general pain associated with the treatment joints/areas (both studies). In the single-arm trial, range of motion (ROM) and related ROM-associated pain was also evaluated. The primary treatment response endpoints were at seven and 30 days. Both clinical assessments were performed on the intent-to-treat (ITT) population within each study.Results:Single-arm trial: Supplementation with NEM® produced a significant treatment response at seven days for flexibility (27.8% increase; P = 0.038) and at 30 days for general pain (72.5% reduction; P = 0.007), flexibility (43.7% increase; P = 0.006), and ROM-associated pain (75.9% reduction; P = 0.021). Double-arm trial: Supplementation with NEM® produced a significant treatment response for pain at seven days for both treatment arms (X: 18.4% reduction; P = 0.021. Y: 31.3% reduction; P = 0.014). There was no clinically meaningful difference between treatment arms at seven days, so the Y arm crossed over to the X formulation for the remainder of the study. The significant treatment response continued through 30 days for pain (30.2% reduction; P = 0.0001). There were no adverse events reported during either study and the treatment was reported to be well tolerated by study participants.Conclusions:Natural Eggshell Membrane (NEM®) is a possible new effective and safe therapeutic option for the treatment of pain and inflexibility associated with joint and connective tissue (JCT) disorders. Supplementation with NEM®, 500 mg taken once daily, significantly reduced pain, both rapidly (seven days) and continuously (30 days). It also showed clinically meaningful results from a brief responder analysis, demonstrating that significant proportions of treated patients may be helped considerably from NEM® supplementation. The Clinical Trial Registration numbers for these trials are: NCT00750230 and NCT00750854.

NEM Brand Eggshell Membrane Effective in the Treatment of Pain Associated with Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis: Results from a Six Center, Open Label German Clinical Study

“…And almost 20% of the study population experienced a 50% improvement in pain-related questions by the end of the study (60 days) (not shown). These results align well with results from previous clinical studies of NEM ® that were conducted in the U.S. [6,7].…”

“…In previous trials with NEM ® [6,7], the standard deviation for the study subjects for pain (within the inclusion range of this study) averaged 34.6%. We hoped to be able to detect a 1.5 point difference from baseline within the 10-point Likert scale.…”

“…Most of these treatments have shown limited effectiveness in randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) [2][3][4][5] or are known to have significant and sometimes severe side effects. NEM ® brand eggshell membrane has previously demonstrated good efficacy in relieving pain and stiffness associated with OA of the knee in an RCT [6] and has shown similar efficacy in limited trials for other affected joints [7].…”

Effects of 50 Days Ovomet Supplementation on Biomechanical Parameters and Subjective Pain Perception among Old Institutionalized Patients. A Preliminary Study

“…The eggshell membrane is one of the food supplements that have had very good results in this sense [2][3][4][5]. Eggshell membrane is comprised of a large part of collagen, mainly type I, V and X [6][7][8]; glycosaminoglycans (hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and different proteins that are involved in the antiinflammatory and immune system regulation ability of the eggshell membrane (lysozyme, ovotransferrin, ovocleidin-17 and ovocleidin-116) [8,9].…”

Synthesis of nanostructured pirochromite magnesium chromate with egg shell membrane template

“…It is widely studied because of its remarkable properties, which could be utilized in catalysis, adsorption of heavy metals [Au(I) and Au(III)] (Ishikawa et al 2002), dyes (malachite green) (Chen et al 2012) and organics (eosin B) (Ning and Tao 2011), biosensors (immobilized enzyme glucose oxidase) (Zheng et al 2011), sulfonates (Wang et al 2010) and fluorides (Lunge et al 2012). In addition, EMS has been also used in medical industries as a possible new effective and safe therapeutic option for the treatment of pain and inflexibility associated with joint and connective tissue (JCT) disorders (Ruff et al 2009). ESM has found applications in ophthalmology as a cheap and versatile eye model which could be used during vitreous surgery training (Benson et al 2012).…”