A Type II Collagen Protects Against Arthritis

 

A staggering 53 million Americans suffer from arthritis, making it the leading cause of disability in this country.^1-3

A nutritional compound has demonstrated the ability to address one of the root causes of joint pain—reducing pain and improving flexibility—with none of the side effects of typical drug treatments.^4-9

Called “un-denatured type II collagen,” or “UC-II^®,” this protein compound acts against the autoimmune reactions that can lead to joint pain and degeneration.^5,6 UC-II^® has been shown effective in previous animal and human studies of arthritis.^4,7-9

A groundbreaking new study shows that UC-II^® can reduce joint pain and improve joint flexibility even in healthy people who experience painful joints after exercise.⁴

An Underlying Cause of Osteoarthritis

While the term “arthritis” can be used to describe several different conditions, the two most common forms are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.¹⁰

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body reacts to components in joint tissue (mainly collagen) to produce inflammation, pain, and disability. ¹⁰

Osteoarthritis was traditionally thought to be the result of wear and tear on the joints.¹⁰ Recent discoveries, however, have determined that osteoarthritis is accompanied by the same pro-inflammatory immune factors involved in rheumatoid arthritis.¹⁰

In both conditions, an autoimmune response is caused when the body launches an attack against collagen, the substance that makes up the bulk of the cartilage that lines your joints.^10,11 Collagen is a protein critical to reducing friction and keeping joints youthful. The problem occurs when microscopic bits of collagen find their way into the bloodstream, at which point immune cells mistakenly identify them as invasive, foreign molecules.^11,12

In response to this perceived “threat,” inflammatory cytokines are released that draw in more“killer” T-cells.¹³ Those cells bombard exposed cartilage with toxic chemicals in order to destroy it, creating oxidative stress and further inflammation in the process.

Over time, these continuous attacks erode and disintegrate the cartilage that lubricates and functions as a shock-absorber in joints.

The resulting pain can become chronic and debilitating, and can include sensations of friction or grinding involved in joint movement. While less acute at rest, this pain is exacerbated by walking, standing, or any form of weight-bearing.^9,14 Osteoarthritis sufferers often experience joint stiffness or immobility after periods of inactivity.⁹

Fortunately, scientists have discovered a substance called un-denatured type II collagen, or UC-II^®, that retrains killer T-cells so that they recognize collagen as a harmless substance—preventing the joint damage seen in osteoarthritis. ^5,10

Reducing Joint Pain and Swelling

 

UC-II^® was discovered when a team of scientists at the University of Nebraska found that chicken soup prevented the mobilization of immune system cells to sites of inflammation.¹⁵ Upon further analysis, they discovered that it was not vegetables, but a component of the chicken broth itself that exerted this anti-inflammatory activity.¹⁵

The researchers showed that chicken-derived type II collagen functions to regulate the immune system so that it stops attacking proteins normally found in healthy joint cartilage.¹⁰

The results have been remarkable.

In a pilot study of people with severe joint pain, a dose of 10 mg/day of this type II collagen (UC-II^®) for 42 days was shown to significantly reduce joint pain and swelling, along with morning stiffness, stiffness following periods of rest, pain that worsens with use of the affected joint, and loss of range of motion and function.¹⁰

Follow-up studies show UC-II^® reduces joint pain and stiffness that can follow as a result of exercise.⁴ Even normal exercise puts stress on joints, which causes the release of collagen fragments into the bloodstream.^16-19 Since these fragments are partly to blame for post-exercise pain and stiffness,^16-19 supplementing with UC-II^® can prevent post-exercise pain.

Laboratory Studies

Extensive animal studies have been carried out on the effects of UC-II^® in various kinds of arthritis—especially in horses and dogs, two species in which arthritis is common. After 90 days on a 10 mg dose of UC-II^®, obese arthritic dogs showed significant decreases in overall pain, in pain during manipulation of a limb, and in lameness after exertion.⁷

Longer-term studies have shown that after taking UC-II^® for 120 days, animals experienced a 62% reduction in overall pain, a 91% reduction in pain caused by limb manipulation, and a 78% reduction in exercise-associated lameness.⁸ No ill effects or adverse events were seen in any of these studies.

Evaluation of UC-II^® in arthritic dogs has been carried out using a high-tech, piezo-electric ground force plate that measures how much weight the animal is putting on each limb and how hard the animal is able to push against the ground as it walks. These studies showed that UC-II ^®-supplemented dogs had significant improvements in both measurements, demonstrating a reduction in arthritis-related pain.²⁰

Horses given UC-II^® treatments experienced similar benefits. In one study, horses given placebo treatments showed no change in symptoms attributed to arthritis, while the horses given UC-II^® treatments experienced an 88% reduction in overall pain and a 78% reduction in pain caused by limb manipulation.²¹ Again, the treatments were well tolerated and free of side effects.

What You Need to Know

Anti-Arthritis Vaccine

• Millions of Americans suffer from arthritis, yet medications make no real change in the course of the disease.
• Scientists have now discovered that both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are caused when the body launches an autoimmune attack against exposed fragments of collagen.
• Un-denatured type II collagen,” or “UC-II®,” is a protein supplement that acts against the autoimmune reactions that can lead to join pain and degeneration.
• Animal and human studies convincingly demonstrate that induction of oral tolerance with UC-II® reduces pain and improves joint function in osteoarthritis and, more recently, in people without arthritis but who suffer joint pain and stiffness following exercise.
• UC-II® is safe and well tolerated; it should form part of every serious joint health program.

Relief for Osteoarthritis Pain

Human clinical trials of UC-II^® demonstrate similar effectiveness in adults suffering from osteoarthritis.⁹

In one study, patients with knee osteoarthritis received UC-II^® or standard treatment for 90 days.⁹ The supplemented group experienced a 33% reduction in their osteoarthritis compared to standard therapy recipients. UC-II^® reduced the patients’ self-determined pain scale scores by 40%, compared with just 15.4% in those receiving standard care. And UC-II ^® improved joint function by 20%, compared with 6% for usual care.

Impact of Arthritis on US Population

• 53.8 million adults were affected by arthritis in 2011²
• 67 million adults are expected to be affected by 2030¹
• 22% of US adults suffer from arthritis³
• 33.8% of obese women have arthritis³
• 25.2% of obese men have arthritis³
• 30% of adults suffer from some type of joint pain³⁶

 

Improving Exercise-Induced Joint Pain

Of course, arthritis is just one of many causes of joint pain, which is why researchers in California recently conducted a study of oral UC-II^® in healthy adults who did not have arthritis. These subjects had no knee pain at rest, but reported significant knee pain after exercise.⁴ The patients underwent a similar exertion test at each of 7 visits over a 120-day period.

Compared to their performance at the beginning of the study, by days 90 and 120, the subjects that had supplemented with 40 mg UC-II^® could exercise for significantly longer before experiencing joint pain; no such changes were seen in the placebo group.⁴ Supplemented subjects recovered from their joint discomfort significantly faster than the placebo recipients at days 60, 90, and 120.

The same new study evaluated joint flexibility and determined that the average knee extension was significantly greater in the UC-II ^® group than in the placebo group at day 120.⁴ Importantly, UC-II^® recipients had significant increases in their knee extension compared to their own baseline level, with no such changes seen among placebo recipients.

In this study published in 2013, the researchers concluded that UC-II^® was “more effective than placebo in supporting joint comfort, flexibility, and mobility."⁴

The broad-spectrum safety of UC-II^® has been evaluated by a number of toxicological assays.²² It causes no mutations in bacterial genomes, a standard screen for carcinogenicity, and is not associated with oral toxicity.

How it Works

UC-II^® works through something called oral tolerance, which is the desensitization of immune response to specific agents via an orally administered intervention.^10,13 In this way, UC-II^® reverses T-cell attacks on exposed cartilage.¹⁰

This makes sense, considering that when researchers want to produce an animal model of human arthritis, they inject small quantities of collagen. ²³ The immune system responds by ramping up production of cells that react to collagen. Those cells then attack normal, healthy joint tissue, producing symptoms and signs of arthritis.^23,24

Remarkably, however, if the animals are first given a small oral dose of collagen, the incidence of experimentally induced arthritis plummets.^5,6 And the severity of joint disease is reduced in the animals that do develop arthritis.^25,26

This phenomenon, called “oral tolerance,” relies on what’s known as gut-associated lymphoid tissue.^10,27-30 Clumps of this tissue are found in the human intestinal tract; they are instrumental in “presenting” the oral collagen fragments to the immune system, which then suppresses its response to the protein.^29,31,32

Oral tolerance has other benefits as well, including fighting food allergies through careful exposure to the offending foods.²⁸ A similar methodology is under investigation for boosting the immune response to certain cancers, especially those of the intestinal tract (mushroom extracts are used there).³³

Pre-treatment with UC-II^®, in other words, may be inducing immune tolerance even in healthy adults, protecting them from deleterious exposure to their own cartilage.

We don’t react to our own cartilage normally because, in intact joints, there’s a barrier between blood and cartilage so that immune system cells in the blood don’t “see” cartilage proteins.^34,35 In the aging joint, this protective barrier between blood and cartilage diminishes.³⁴

UC-II^® offers a different approach to modifying joint inflammation rather than simply masking the symptoms.

FIGURE: Nearly One-Third of Americans Suffer from Joint Pain³⁶

A national survey revealed that nearly one-third of US adults report suffering from joint pain of some kind within the last 30 days. The knee was by far the most common single site for pain or stiffness, though many people reported pain at more than one joint.

Summary

 

Arthritis leads the list of conditions that cause disability among American adults.

Standard medical treatment consists mainly of treating the symptoms, with few tolerable drugs that modify the course of the disease.

A low-cost nutritional supplement has the ability to address the root cause of joint pain—reducing joint pain and improving flexibility. Called “un-denatured type II collagen,” or “UC-II^®,” this natural protein supplement acts against the autoimmune reactions that can lead to join pain and degeneration.

UC-II^® has demonstrated efficacy in animal and human studies of arthritis—and can even reduce joint pain and improve joint flexibility in healthy people who experience painful joints after exercise.⁴

The implications cannot be overstated; the ability to move comfortably and engage in regular physical activity is critical to maintaining health in the face of our national epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension^® Health Advisor at 1-866-864-3027.

Editor's Note

Science continues to evolve, and new research is published daily. As such, we have a more recent article on this topic: Ease Arthritis with Type II Collagen

References

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