Aim : To compare with baseline, pain relief, changes in the indicators of quality of life and safety for osteoarthritis patients taking a patented CO₂ stabilised oil from the NZ Greenshell Mussel Perna canaliculus (PCSO-524™) as compared with patients taking fish oil (containing an industry standard EPA – 18% and DHA – 12% blend).
Material and methods: 50 patients older than 50 years from the Rheumatology Clinic at the Wroclaw Medical University Hospital were administered randomly either Lyprinol® capsules that contained PCSO-524™ or fish oil capsules in a double-blind study. All subjects had a diagnosed history of osteoarthritis of the knee and/or the hip. The patients characteristics are presented in Tables I and II. At baseline and then after four, eight and 12 weeks of treatment, information was collected using first, the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain; second, the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ); and third, the patient’s own overall assessment of the progression of osteoarthritis and their health condition. For patient safety control, before enrolment in the study and at the end of the study, patients had a blood cell count, ESR, ALAT and urine analysis.
Results : Patients treated with PCSO-524™ showed a statistically significant improvement of both their pain symptoms related to osteoarthritis and improved quality of their daily lives (Tables III-V, Fig. 1, 2). No side effects were observed in patients who took PCSO-524™ (p < 0.05). Patients treated with fish oil showed significantly less improvement and a greater level of physical discomfort caused by the fish oil during the study (Table VI).
Conclusions : Reduction of pain was statistically evident at four weeks among the subjects who took capsules that contained PCSO-524™. Practitioners can expect quicker long-term results with less risk of side effects for their osteoarthritis patients when they recommend products that contain PCSO-524™, compared with fish oil.