Effect of Collagen Hydrolysate in Articular Pain: a 6-month Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo Controlled Study

Objective: Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of a food supplement made of collagen hydrolysate 1200 mg/day versus placebo during 6 months, in subjects with joint pain at the lower or upper limbs or at the lumbar spine.

Design: Comparative double-blind randomized multicenter study in parallel groups.

Setting: 200 patients of both genders of at least 50 years old with joint pain assessed as ≥30 mm on a visual analogical scale (VAS).

Intervention: Collagen hydrolysate 1200 mg/day or placebo during 6 months.

Main Outcome Measure: Comparison of the percentage of clinical responder between the active collagen hydrolysate group and the placebo group after 6 months of study. A responder subject was defined as a subject experiencing a clinically significant improvement (i.e. by 20% or more) in the most painful joint using the VAS score. All analyses were performed using an intent-to-treat procedure.

Results: At 6 months, the proportion of clinical responders to the treatment, according to VAS scores, was significantly higher in the collagen hydrolysate (CH) group 51.6%, compared to the placebo group 36.5% (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between groups at 3 months (44.1% vs. 39.6%, p=0.53). No significant difference in terms of security and tolerability was observed between the two groups.

Conclusions: This study suggests that collagen hydrolysate 1200 mg/day could increase the number of clinical responders (i.e. improvement of at least 20% on the VAS) compared to placebo. More studies are needed to confirm the clinical interest of this food supplement.