52 peer-reviewed studies · Evidence score: 9/10
Honvo G et al. • Drugs (2025)
This SR confirms previous evidence on the safety of anti-OA medications from meta-analyses of phase 3 RCTs.
Singh JA et al. • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2015)
Chondroitin shows small to moderate benefit for OA pain.
Wu R et al. • PloS one (2024)
In summary, GCSB-5 and CRx-102 exhibit efficacy in alleviating pain and stiffness in HOA, respectively.
Meng Z et al. • Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery (2023)
Our study confirmed that the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin is effective and superior to other treatments in knee osteoarthritis to a certain extent.
Baden KER et al. • Nutrients (2025)
Overall, the evidence suggests that glucosamine and chondroitin are generally effective and well-tolerated, particularly for managing osteoarthritis and joint pain.
Zeng C et al. • Scientific reports (2015)
The present study provided evidence for the symptomatic efficacy of glucosamine plus chondroitin in the treatment of knee OA.
Mathieu S et al. • Nutrients (2022)
Other studies are needed to better assess the effects of omega-3 and vitamin D.
Park YB et al. • Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2025)
Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level II.
Migliore A et al. • Aging clinical and experimental research (2025)
The combination of low dose diclofenac and chondroitin sulfate represents a promising therapeutic strategy for managing knee OA.
Douglah S et al. • PeerJ (2024)
GAGs hold potential as early cancer detection biomarkers.
Liu B et al. • Nutrition and cancer (2023)
Moreover, NSAIDs use may have a synergistic protective effect.
Gwinnutt JM et al. • RMD open (2022)
The current literature suggests that there is moderate evidence for a small benefit for certain dietary components.
Gregori D et al. • JAMA (2018)
In this systematic review and network meta-analysis of studies of patients with knee osteoarthritis and at least 12 months of follow-up, there was uncertainty around the estimates of effect size for change in pain for all comparisons with placebo.
Amhare AF et al. • Journal of drug targeting (2021)
Most of the studies presented baseline characteristics and outcomes appropriately.
Rojas-Briones V et al. • Medwave (2017)
We concluded it is not clear whether the use of chondroitin sulfate leads to an improvement in pain or functionality in osteoarthritis because the certainty of the evidence is very low.
Liu X et al. • British journal of sports medicine (2018)
The overall analysis including all trials showed that supplements provided moderate and clinically meaningful treatment effects on pain and function in patients with hand, hip or knee osteoarthritis at short term, although the quality of evidence was very low.
Reichenbach S et al. • Annals of internal medicine (2007)
Large-scale, methodologically sound trials indicate that the symptomatic benefit of chondroitin is minimal or nonexistent.
Honvo G et al. • Drugs & aging (2019)
GS and CS can be considered safe treatments for patients with OA.
Simental-Mendía M et al. • Rheumatology international (2018)
However, there is no additional effect using both therapeutic agents in combination for the management of symptomatic knee OA.
Zhu X et al. • Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research (2018)
Given the effectiveness of these symptomatic slow-acting drugs, oral chondroitin is more effective than placebo on relieving pain and improving physical function.