The oral intake of specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP) improves gait and quality of life in canine osteoarthritis patients-A translational large animal model for a nutritional therapy option

Dobenecker B, Böswald LF, Reese S, Steigmeier-Raith S, Trillig L, Oesser S, Schunck M, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Hugenberg J · PLoS One

An instrumented joint outcome: force plates in a treadmill, in animals that cannot report a placebo response. Peak vertical force on the affected limb improved on collagen peptides (p < 0.001 within group, p = 0.012 against placebo) while the placebo group's force fell over the same twelve weeks; vertical impulse and stance duration did not change significantly in any group. Owner-rated quality of life on the Canine Brief Pain Inventory improved more on collagen than on the omega-3 comparator (p = 0.015) but not more than on placebo (p = 0.517), where it also improved, and the inventory's pain score showed no systematic differences. Accelerometry — total daily activity — was unaffected by any treatment.

Population

Dogs with naturally occurring osteoarthritis, client-owned

Intervention

Specific bioactive collagen peptides orally for 12 weeks

Comparator

Placebo (n = 9) and an approved omega-3 fatty acid plus vitamin E combination (n = 11); 11 dogs on collagen peptides

Limitations

Thirty-one dogs across three arms of 11, 11 and 9 after ten exclusions, so the placebo comparison rests on nine dogs and one gait parameter. The owner-rated gain over placebo was not significant, and the activity measure, the one endpoint that is neither owner-reported nor laboratory-measured, was null. Funded by GELITA AG, with a GELITA employee as an author and Oesser as a collagen-peptide patent co-inventor.