Osteoarthrosis is a chronic joint disease that, once patent, leads to a progressive functional disability. As proteochondroitin sulfates are the major contents of the cartilage, it is expected that the ingestion of glucosamine and chondroitin might improve the biological status of that tissue. As we could not find any studies on the pharmacokinetic profile of this association by oral administration route in human beings, the objective of this study was to evaluate it by using the association of glucosamine sulfate (GS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) given to two groups of twelve healthy male volunteers (group I: one capsule containing 500 mg of GS and 400 mg of CS; group II: four capsules with the same content). Blood samples were collected at pre-determined time intervals up to 48 hours post-dosing. GS and CS were measured in plasma by the DMMB (1,9,dimethyl-dimethilene blue) method. Maximum concentration was achieved within 2 hours (average ± SE; 0.893±0.093 µg/ml, group I; and 2.222±0.313 µg/ml, group II). Areas under curve up to 48 hours were 10.803±0.965 µg-hr/ml and 38.776±2.981 µg-hr/ml for groups I and II, respectively. Both groups showed a second peak after 18 hours, indicating an enterohepatic flow. Our results indicate that this association is absorbed through the oral route by a saturable mechanism, which can enable its use in clinical treatments.
Osteoarthrosis; Chondroitin Sulfate; Glucosamine; Proteoglicans
