Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In research with 55 middle aged adults, the group taking UC II was able to do a knee extension exercise twice as long before pain began.
When arthritis starts to affect a joint, pain occurs with movement, especially strenuous exercise (1) because of increases in levels of inflammatory proteins that include TNF-alpha, IL-1B, and IL-6 (2, 3). As a result, ways to help decrease the inflammation that comes with strenuous exercise may help patients maintain or even increase levels of physical activity.
Now a formulated supplement called UC-II, made from a type of collagen found in chicken bone 4, 5), may help. In a 2013 study (6), 55 subjects (23 men, 32 women) between the ages of 44 and 48 received either 40 milligrams of UC-II (27 subjects) or placebo (28 subjects) for 4 months. Before and after the study, the subjects completed a step exercise where they walked on a Stepmill StairMaster treadmill at level 4 until they felt the onset of pain (7) and had knee flexibility measurements taken.
After 4 months, those in the UC-II group experienced a 10.9% increase in the ability to straighten their knee (called “knee extension”, 73 to 81 degrees) compared to a 3.4% increase in the placebo group (71.5 to 74 degrees, p = 0.002). In addition, those in the UC-II group experienced a 100% increase in the time before onset of knee pain during the stepping exercise (1.4 to 2.8 minutes) compared to 56.5% increase in the placebo group (1.15 to 1.8 minutes, p = 0.019). Finally, five subjects in the UC-II group (18.5%) had no pain during the stepping exercise after 4 months compared to one subject in the placebo group (3.5%, p = 0.031). No adverse events were reported in either group.
For the researchers, “daily supplementation with 40 mg of UC-II supports joint function and flexibility in healthy subjects as demonstrated by greater knee extension and has the potential both to alleviate the joint pain that occasionally arises from strenuous exercise as well as to lengthen periods of pain free exertion.”
Source: Lugo, James P., et al. “Undenatured type II collagen (UC-II®) for joint support: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 10.1 (2013): 48.
© 2013 Lugo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Click here to read the full text study.
Posted February 10, 2015.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com
References:
- Shek PN, Shephard RJ: Physical exercise as a human model of limited inflammatory response. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 1998, 76:589–597
- Ramage L, Nuki G, Salter DM: Signalling cascades in mechanotransduction: cell-matrix interactions and mechanical loading. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2009, 19:457–469
- Honda K, Ohno S, Tanimoto K, et al: The effects of high magnitude cyclic tensile load on cartilage matrix metabolism in cultured chondrocytes. Eur J Cell Biol 2000, 79:601–609.
- Bagchi D, Misner B, Bagchi M, et al: Effects of orally administered undenatured type II collagen against arthritic inflammatory diseases: a mechanistic exploration. Int J Clin Pharmacol Res 2002, 22:101–110
- Crowley DC, Lau FC, Sharma P, et al: Safety and efficacy of undenatured type II collagen in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a clinical trial. Int J Med Sci 2009, 6:312–321
- Lugo JP. Undenatured type II collagen (UC-II®) for joint support: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in healthy volunteers. .J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2013 Oct 24;10(1):48. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-10-48
- Likert R: A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Arch Psychol 1932, 22:1–55
