EFFECTS OF GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS COMBINED WITH NATIVE TYPE II COLLAGEN ON SYNOVIAL FLUID HYALURONIC ACID CONCENTRATION IN A RABBIT OSTEOARTHRITIS MODEL

This study was aimed at evaluating hyaluronic acid concentrations in synovial fluid following oral administration of combined chondroitin sulphate (CS), glucosamine hydrochloride (Gl) and hyaluronic acid (HA), with and without native collagen type II (NC) in a rabbit osteoarthritis model.

54 New Zealand rabbits entered a prospective, randomized, double blinded study. All animals underwent transection of the cranial cruciate ligament in their right stifles. Rabbits were divided in 3 treatment groups (n=18):  group 0 (no treatment), group 1 [CS (CS Bioactive®), Gl and HA (Mobilee®)] and group 2 [CS (CS Bioactive®), Gl, HA (Mobilee®) and NC (b-2Cool®)]. Active ingredients were provided by Bioiberica SAU, Barcelona, Spain. Each group was subdivided into 3 subgroups (n=6) depending on survival times (28, 56 and 84 days). Synovial fluid HA concentrations were measured using an ELISA technique. The left stifles from group 0 were used as healthy controls. A mean comparison was performed using a t-Student with statistical significance set at p<0.1.

Mean HA concentration in left stifles was 243.30 ng/mL. This value was significantly higher than the rest of the study groups at any survival time.

At 84 days, group 2 showed significantly higher HA concentrations than groups 0 and 1.
In conclusion, the present study shows that oral administration of a combination of CS, Gl, HA and NC in rabbits with induced OA leads to significantly higher concentrations of HA in synovial fluid than the same combination without NC, and the negative control.