28 Jun 2017 --- Bioiberica’s Chondroitin sulfate CS b-Bioactive delays osteoarthritis progression and is as effective as the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib at improving the disease’s symptoms. These are the main conclusions of a clinical essay presented by Professor Jean Pierre Pelletier at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, held in Madrid. Conducted by Bioiberica, the MOSAIC clinical essay (a 24-month study on structural changes in knee osteoarthritis assessed by MRI with Chondroitin sulfate) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled and comparative study, carried out in five medical centers in Quebec (Canada).

A total of 194 patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis with inflammation (synovitis) and moderate pain participated in the study to assess the effects of chondroitin sulfate (1.200 mg/day) and celecoxib (200 mg day) over the loss of cartilage volume in knee osteoarthritis after 24 months.

The participants underwent three Quantitative Magnetic Resonance scans: one at the beginning of the study, the second one after one year and a third one at the end of the study. The results revealed that the progression of knee osteoarthritis is slower in patients who received chondroitin sulfate CS b-Bioactive. This group experienced a statistically significant lower loss of cartilage volume as soon as after the first year of treatment, in comparison with those patients who received the anti-inflammatory drug.

Patients treated with chondroitin sulfate had a decrease in synovitis which was associated with a statistically significant decrease in cartilage loss. In addition to that, a post hoc analysis of this clinical trial concludes that chondroitin sulfate also has a protective effect by reducing the long-term progression of knee OA structural changes caused by a decrease in the loss of subchondral bone curvature.

“This data proves that chondroitin sulfate may delay the advance of osteoarthritis in the long term, and identifies a possible new mode of action of chondroitin sulfate,” Professor Pelletier said.

The MOSAIC study also evaluated the effects of both products on the disease’s symptoms. Among others, the study evaluated their effects on pain, function, stiffness, joint swelling and effusion; concluding that both treatments were equally efficient across the entire study, reaching a clinically relevant symptom improvement of around 50 percent.

“The study confirms that both products are effective for the treatment of osteoarthritis symptoms, although only chondroitin sulfate has the additional advantage of exerting a joint protection effect,” Professor Pelletier concludes.