Background: Previous studies have shown that undenatured collagen type II is effective in the treatment of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The present randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of collagen type I (COL-I) in the treatment of OA of the knee.
Material and methods: The study group consisted of 58 patients diagnosed with knee OA (Table I). The results indicate that COL-I treatment is effective in knee OA, resulting in significant reduction in the WOMAC score and pain VAS score from the baseline after 3 months treatment and after 1 month follow-up. Treatment with COL-I reduced the total WOMAC score by 38% as compared to 10% in the placebo treated group and 37% vs. 8% after 1 month follow-up. COL-I treatment decreased the pain VAS score by 41% after 3 months treatment vs 13% in the placebo treated group and after 1 month follow-up 37% vs. 11%. Efficacy of the treatment evaluated by patients showed significantly better efficacy in the COL-I treated group compared to the placebo group (Fig. 1–3).
Results: The results of this study indicate that collagen type I is an effective treatment for symptomatic knee OA, even with a carry-over effect for at least 1 month. In addition, it also has a very good safety profile.