The polysaccharide backbone of chitosan is structurally similar to
glycosamine, which is the major component of the extracellular matrix of bone and cartilage.
In conclusion, this study showed that intraarticular
glycosamine and intraarticular hyaluronate have a role in slowing the progression of the degenerative process and protecting the cartilage surface during the early stages of osteoarthtritis.
The values for chitosan can be explained by its high charge density, one positive charge for each
glycosamine unit (Craveiro et al., 1999).
I treat myself like the horses, pump myself full of
glycosamine when it hurts.
The exclusion criteria included surgery, or any invasive procedure of the affected knee, physical therapy in the last month for knee problems, use of controlled medication or derivatives of
glycosamine, and hormonal anti-inflammatory.
The mucine from the shoats milked by female pigs presented more fucose and
glycosamine and less sulphate, thus considered more mature than the mucines from animals artificially milked.
The other is N-acetyl
glycosamine. It inhibits the tyrosinase enzyme that produces melanin, but it does not work as well as hydroquinone.