Collagen shown to help people with rheumatoid arthritis

A new report has suggested that the oral administration of a type of collagen derived from chickens is effective at reducing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The research was carried out by a team from Anhui Medical University in Hefei in China and published in Arthritis Care & Research.

During the trial a total of 236 RA patients were either prescribed chicken type II collagen (CCII) or methotrexate.


The tests lasted 24 weeks and 89.4 per cent of the patients completed the full course of treatment. Both groups showed decreases in pain, morning stiffness, tender joint count and swollen joint count.

The methotrexate group showed slightly higher rates of improvement than the collagen-treated patients.

However, the researchers showed that the collagen-treated patients suffered fewer and milder side effects than those taking the methotrexate.

As a result, Dr Wei Wei and the rest of the team concluded: "CCII is effective in the treatment of RA. CCII is well tolerated, and the incidence of adverse events of CCII is lower than that of methotrexate."

An Arthritis Research Campaign spokeswoman commented that previous research into chicken collagen had not yielded positive results.

Recent related stories:

Ibuprofen and famotidine combination 'reduces pain and GI ulcers'
03 December 2008
Intra-articular corticosteroid injection 'best treatment for knee arthritis in children'
26 November 2008
New pain-relieving drug approved in the US
26 November 2008
New osteoarthritis drug 'is safe and effective'
26 November 2008
Syk kinase inhibitors 'benefit rheumatoid arthritis patients'
21 November 2008
Sodium oxybate 'shows good results in fibromyalgia trial'
21 November 2008
Febuxostat 'effective for gout patients'
18 November 2008

Want to know more?