Interesting paper on chondroitin sulphate on synovitis

[minister]

Effect of chondroitin sulphate on synovitis of knee osteoarthritic patients
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28245911/

Besides addressing cartilage (questionable), this is probably why people report benefits using CS; reducing synovial membrane inflammation, very common in knee OA.

[silver_maple]

Interesting, thanks Minister. Can't get the full article but note the study is from Spain. European guidelines for arthritis management recommend prescription CS as part of Step 1 background treatment. High-grade, quality-controlled, prescription CS is available in Europe.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31126594/

CS is not available by prescription in North America. It's sold over the counter and quality is unreliable. No one certifies it. The North American guidelines for arthritis management therefore do not recommend the taking of CS as numerous studies have failed to prove effectiveness. I tried a 2-month course for the heck of it - made no difference. I do not believe I have synovitis, though. I am based in Canada.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31278997/

The two links I've provided may not give you the full text either but with some creative googling one should be able to get it - for the European and North American arthritis guidelines. I have them. Maybe try the sites of OARSI and ESCEO.

I have attached a summary diagram of the current (2019) European guidelines. This is the accepted mainstream and is periodically updated as new research builds up. Step 4 is brutal if TKR is contra-indicated.

[jgardner]

Thanks so much for posting, minister...and thanks for the scholarly reply post, silver_maple! As someone struggling with MRI-confirmed synovitis in the aftermath of a mosaicplasty surgery, I am extremely interested in finding some way to combat my synovitis. (Ice, NSAIDs, and a Kenalog injection have not helped much.) I'll probably buy chondroitin as a supplement (I live in the US) and give it a go.

In 2006 there was a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa052771) that examined the effects of glucosamine, chondroitin, and their combination on osteoarthritis pain (primary endpoint) and a range of secondary endpoints that included swelling. Interestingly, chondroitin resulted a statistically significant improvement in swelling, while the combination of glucosamine and chondroitin did not.

[minister]

Thanks for your answers. In my case (39M), after needing surgery for synovitis, adhesions & arthrofibrosis from what seemed an innocent chondromalacia, I want to be ready and prevent future episodes without the use of NSAIDS.

I've been also finding many papers regarding green tea and curcumin for synovitis and joint inflammation, do a bit of google search.