May 15 2019.
Glucosamine is a popular over-the-counter supplement used by people with osteoarthritis to relieve pain and support healthy joint tissue.
Lu Qi and colleagues at Tulane University utilized data from 466,039 men and women who enrolled in the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010. Subjects completed questionnaires upon enrollment that provided data concerning diet, alcohol intake, supplement use and other factors.
The participants were followed for an average of seven years, during which hospital records and death certificates were used to ascertain the occurrence of cardiovascular events.
People who used glucosamine supplements had a 15% lower risk of total cardiovascular disease events, defined as cardiovascular disease death, coronary heart disease and stroke, in comparison with people who did not use the supplements.
When these outcomes were examined individually, glucosamine use was associated with a 22% lower risk of cardiovascular death, an 18% lower risk of coronary heart disease and a 9% lower risk of stroke. Adjustment for several risk factors failed to significantly modify the associations. The protective effect of glucosamine was strongest in smokers.
As a potential mechanism, the authors cite the association between glucosamine use and a reduction in levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a marker of inflammation. Additionally, according to the authors, glucosamine has been treated as an energy restriction mimetic agent, which could favorably impact many conditions.
“Habitual use of glucosamine supplements to relieve osteoarthritis pain might also be related to lower risks of cardiovascular events,” they conclude. “Clinical trials are warranted to test this hypothesis.”
—D Dye
