The Effect of Glucosamine With or Without Chondroitin Sulphate on Glucose Monitoring Parameters in Humans – A Systematic Review

Musculoskeletal diseases that included OA was the second greatest contributor to disability as measured by years lived with disability. The goals of OA treatment are to reduce pain, improve function and quality of life and decrease disability. The objective of this systematic review is to summarise the findings of the effect of glucosamine with or without chondroitin sulphate on glucose monitoring parameters in humans. An English language literature search of electronic bibliographic databases such as Medline, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus and Cochrane since inception to June 2020 was conducted. Two reviewers independently analysed the studies for quality and content using the Downs and Black Checklist. The thirteen studies that were included in the review consists of randomised control trials (n=7), non-randomised control trials (n=3), prospective cohort studies (n=2) and pre-post studies (n=1). Five studies detected the effect of glucosamine on glucose parameters. Studies that recruited patients with baseline impaired glucose tolerance or insulin resistance were more likely to detect an effect on glucose metabolism. Patients taking glucosamine have a higher risk of diabetes especially those who have high baseline glucose levels or have diabetes or have impaired glucose tolerance. Only two studies investigated the effect of glucosamine on glucose parameters in patients having osteoarthritis.