Study Shows Undenatured Collagen from Salmon Improves Knee Discomfort
A new study showed that undenatured collagen (type II and type XI) from salmon cartilage reduced pain in the knees when walking. In the random, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, healthy subjects experiencing knee discomfort were given 10mg of undenatured collagen or a placebo for 16 weeks. In addition to significant improvement in knee pain while walking, subjects older than 50 experienced significant improvement in knee pain when doing exercises that required bending or stretching the knees, such as using the stairs and doing squats.
Biomarkers for joint cartilage synthesis and degradation were also measured in the study. Results showed undenatured salmon collagen normalized the synthesis and degradation of the joint cartilage, which may help to explain its efficacy.
The study was published in the Japanese Pharmacology & Therapeutics Journal on May 25, 2023 under the title, “Efficacy of Undenatured Collagens (Type II and XI) Derived from Salmon Nasal Cartilage on Knee Discomfort in Healthy Volunteers.”
The first part of this study was published in 2021, and examined the effects of undenatured proteoglycan from salmon cartilage using the same study protocol. The results showed similar results with 10mg of undenatured proteoglycan significantly improving knee discomfort compared to the placebo.
Human studies already exist showing the efficacy of undenatured type II collagen on knee discomfort; however, this is the first study to use salmon collagen with a dose as low as 10 mg/day. The undenatured collagen used in the study was extracted from salmon cartilage, which contains undenatured proteoglycan, undenatured type II collagen and was recently discovered to also contain type XI collagen.
It is important to distinguish undenatured type II collagen from the collagen peptides that are widely consumed today. While collagen peptides are taken in large doses from 2-10g and are generally derived from type I and type III collagen, undenatured type II collagen only requires 10mg to show efficacy and is the only type of collagen found in the joint cartilage. Undenatured type II collagen is effective at a very small dose because the active sites of the protein are kept intact unlike the collagen peptides. It is hypothesized that these actives sites on the collagen are recognized by the body and can signal the body to suppress the excessive immune response that releases inflammatory cytokines and can be responsible for inflammation in the joints and degradation of the joint cartilage. Collagen peptides are not able to induce the same mechanism of action.
A past study was done on the undenatured collagen and proteoglycan complex from salmon cartilage at doses 20mg and 15mg respectively. The test subjects that took the salmon cartilage complex showed significant improvement in knee pain compared to those that took the placebo or glucosamine. In this study, the effects on knee discomfort were seen as early as 4 weeks. Therefore, there may be a synergistic effect of taking both undenatured collagen and proteoglycan. Additional studies are needed to examine the mechanism of how they may be working together.
