41 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.
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.
Zhao J et al. • Journal of ethnopharmacology (2022)
JWGT is considered effective and safe in the treatment of KOA and is worthy of clinical application.
Kessler CS et al. • Rheumatology international (2015)
Well-planned, well-conducted and well-published trials are warranted to improve the evidence for Ayurvedic interventions.
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.
Singh JA et al. • The Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2015)
A review of randomized trials of mostly low quality reveals that chondroitin (alone or in combination with glucosamine) was better than placebo in improving pain in participants with osteoarthritis in short-term studies.
Runhaar J et al. • Annals of the rheumatic diseases (2017)
Although proposed and debated for several years, open trial data are not widely made available for studies of glucosamine for OA, especially those sponsored by industry.
Park YB et al. • Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2025)
Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level II.
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.
Derwich M et al. • International journal of molecular sciences (2023)
Further long-term, randomized, double-blind studies, with a unified methodology, ought to be performed to draw the general recommendations for the use of oral glucosamine in the treatment of TMJ OA.
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.
Harrison-Muñoz S et al. • Medwave (2017)
We concluded it is not clear whether glucosamine decreases pain or improves 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.
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.
Aweid O et al. • Journal of orthopaedic surgery (Hong Kong) (2018)
Careful consideration should be given to medical management taking into account known co-morbidities.
Rodriguez-Merchan EC • Postgraduate medicine (2018)
Although some controversy exists on the role of topical NSAIDs, current management guidelines advise topical NSAIDs as an option and even first-line therapy for knee OA treatment, particularly among elderly patients.