Effects of Native Type II Collagen Treatment on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Bakilan F, Armagan O, Ozgen M, Tascioglu F, Bolluk O, Alatas O · Eurasian Journal of Medicine

Rare in this literature for being academic rather than manufacturer-run, and correspondingly modest. The combination beat acetaminophen alone on only one between-group comparison, VAS during walking. Most notably, the urinary cartilage-degradation biomarkers Coll2-1, Coll2-1NO2 and Fibulin-3 did NOT significantly improve in either group — the one objective measure of cartilage turnover was flat.

Population

Patients with knee osteoarthritis, Eskisehir, Turkey

Intervention

Acetaminophen 1500 mg/day plus 10 mg/day native type II collagen for 3 months

Comparator

Acetaminophen 1500 mg/day alone

Limitations

Severely underpowered at n=39 across two arms, and no placebo — the comparator is acetaminophen alone, so this is an add-on design. The dose is 10 mg, not the 40 mg used in the manufacturer trials. Within-group improvements dominate the abstract; only one between-group difference reached significance.