( Systematic ) The Effects of Chondroitin and / or Glucosamine on Patients with Kashin-Beck Disease

Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), an endemic disease, is a special type of osteoarthritis (OA). Nowadays, due to prevention and treatment methods including selenium supplements, changing grains and water source as well as health education, the morbidity of KBD is reduced significantly as compared to that in the 1950s. However, many elderly adult KBD patients are still suffering from the degenerative changes of cartilage, pain, stiffness and deformation of joints, which are quite similar or even more serious than OA. Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine have been widely used as symptomatic slow-acting drugs for the treatment of OA. Although their therapeutic effects, biochemical data, pharmacokinetics, preclinical studies, safety and economic evaluation have been well investigated in OA, they are not clearly studied in KBD. In this review, we will evaluate the clinical evidence (randomized controlled trials and non-randomized controlled trials), safeties and cost-effectiveness of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine for the treatment of KBD. Moreover, the therapeutic mechanisms of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine are also discussed in details.■