Efficacy and Safety of Glucosamine, Diacerein, and NSAIDs in Osteoarthritis Knee: a Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis
Overview
Authors
Affiliations
Background: To conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with the aims of comparing relevant clinical outcomes (that is, visual analog scores (VAS), total and sub-Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) scores, Lequesne algofunctional index, joint space width change, and adverse events) between diacerein, glucosamine, and placebo.
Methods: Medline and Scopus databases were searched from inception to 29 August 2014, using PubMed and Scopus search engines and included RCTs or quasi-experimental designs comparing clinical outcomes between treatments. Data were extracted from original studies. A network meta-analysis was performed by applying weight regression for continuous outcomes and a mixed-effect Poisson regression for dichotomous outcomes.
Results: Thirty-one of 505 identified studies were eligible. Compared to placebo, glucosamine showed a significant improvement with unstandardized mean differences (UMD) in total WOMAC, pain WOMAC, function WOMAC, and Lequesne score of -2.49 (95% confidence interval (CI) -4.14, -0.83), -0.75 (95% CI: -1.18, -0.32), -4.78 (95% CI: -5.96, -3.59), and -1.03 (95% CI: -1.34, -0.72), respectively. Diacerein clinically improves visual analog scores, function WOMAC, and stiffness WOMAC with UMD values of -2.23 (95% CI: -2.82, -1.64), -6.64 (95% CI: -10.50, -2.78), and -0.68 (95% CI: -1.20, -0.16) when compared to placebo.
Conclusions: The network meta-analysis suggests that diacerein and glucosamine are equally efficacious for symptom relief in knee OA, but that the former has more side effects.
Park Y, Kim J Medicina (Kaunas). 2025; 61(2).
PMID: 40005447 PMC: 11857085. DOI: 10.3390/medicina61020331.
Vaidya N, Agarwal R, Dipankar D, Patkar H, Ganu G, Nagore D Pharm Res. 2025; 42(2):249-269.
PMID: 39875757 PMC: 11880083. DOI: 10.1007/s11095-025-03818-2.
Apurba G, Sudip B Caspian J Intern Med. 2023; 14(4):590-606.
PMID: 38024172 PMC: 10646351. DOI: 10.22088/cjim.14.43.590.
Zeng L, Zhou G, Yang W, Liu J Front Med (Lausanne). 2023; 10:1260943.
PMID: 37915321 PMC: 10617515. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1260943.
Aldrich J, Panicker A, Ovalle Jr R, Sharma B Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2023; 16(7).
PMID: 37513955 PMC: 10383173. DOI: 10.3390/ph16071044.