Combined glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, once or three times daily, provides clinically relevant analgesia in knee osteoarthritis.

We compared the analgesic efficacy and safety of glucosamine sulfate (GS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) capsules or sachet preparations with glucosamine hydrochloride (GH) and CS capsules in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. 1,120 subjects with radiographic knee OA (Kellgren/Lawrence 2-3) were randomized (1:1:1) at 16 centers to receive GS 500 mg/CS 400 mg three times daily capsules (GI) or once daily sachet (GII) or GH 500 mg/CS 400 mg three times daily (GIII) for a 16-week trial. Primary outcome, intention-to-treat (ITT) was change from baseline of patient reported pain intensity (0-100 mm visual analogue scale) in the affected knee and variation of Lequesne's index (LI). Monthly secondary outcomes were changes from baseline in patient reported pain and LI, patient and physician global assessments of disease activity, acetaminophen consumption, and adherence. ITT population comprised 302, 301, and 306 patients in GI, GII, and GIII. Pain significantly decreased (GI = -30.9 ± 1.5; GII = -28.7 ± 1.5; GIII = -29.7 ± 1.5 mm) in all groups (P < 0.001) as well as LI (GI = -3.8 ± 0.2; GII = -3.7 ± 0.2; GIII = -3.9 ± 0.2; P < 0.001). All secondary outcomes improved (P < 0.005) for all groups. Patients that did not complete the study were 77 (44.8 %) for lack of adherence, 16 (9.3 %) consent withdrawal, 11 (6.4 %) adverse events, eight (4.7 %) lost to follow-up, and 17 (9.9 %) for other causes. Non-inferiority analysis found no differences among groups. This is a large study showing that GS/CS and GH/CS provide clinically meaningful and sustained analgesia in knee OA regardless of dose fractionation and capsule or sachet formulations.

Relievene® SK: neuroimunomodulação para o tratamento dermocosmético da pele sensível / Relievene® SK: neuroimunomodulation for dermocosmetic treatment of sensitive skin

Pele sensível (PS) é definida como uma condição de tolerância reduzida ao uso freqüente ou prolongado de cosméticos e produtos de higiene pessoal, que apresenta desde sinais clínicos visíveis, como eritema, edema e descamação, até sinais neurossensoriais subjetivos de desconforto, como pinicamento, queimação, prurido, ressecamento e dor. A fisiopatologia da PS consiste em reação inflamatória decorrente de uma disfunção da barreira cutânea associada ao desequilíbrio da resposta neuroimunoendocrinológica da pele. Neste trabalho demonstramos os efeitos do produto Relievene® SK sobre a proteção do metabolismo celular, considerando as atividades adaptógena e neuroendócrina deste composto, bem como a melhora da função da barreira cutânea e da hiper-reatividade da pele em indivíduos com PS.