The most common disease of mankind — is there a «Holy Grail»?

Rekalov D.G.¹, Daniuk I.O.²

• ¹NSC «Institute of Cardiology, Clinical and Regenerative Medicine named after Academician M.D. Strazhesko of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine»
• ²Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

Summary. Osteoarthritis (OA) continues to be the most common rheumatological disease. In the management of OA, it is important to find effective treatment regimens to reduce the pain syndrome. The purpose was to investigate the analgesic efficacy of bioactive marine fish concentrate (BMFC) in different regimens compared to the long-term use of glucosamine sulfate (GS) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) combination in the treatment of knee OA. Materials and methods. The study involved 60 patients with stage II knee OA. The patients were divided into three groups: the first group (n=20) received 1 ml of BMFC daily (20 intramuscularly injections), the second group (n=20) received 2 ml every other day (10 intramuscularly injections), and the third group (n=20) received complex of GS and CS in tablet form. On the first stage of research clinical efficacy was assessed using the WOMAC pain subscale before treatment and on the 21-day of study. During the next stage, which was 90 days, the patients of the third group continued to receive a combination of GS and CS, and the patients of the first and second groups were observed with a dynamic assessment of pain according to the WOMAC scale. Results. In the group that received BMFC daily, the pain level decreased by 58.7% on day 21. In the group that received BMFC every other day, the pain reduction was 55.7% on day 21. In patients who received combination of GS and CS, no significant improvement in pain reduction was found on 21 day of treatment. On day 90 of follow-up in the group that received BMFC daily, the intensity of pain syndrome remained lower by 31.5% (P<0.05) than before the start of therapy. In the second group, which received BMFC every other day, after 90 days of observation, the level of pain continued to be lower than before the start of therapy by 29.4% (P<0.05). In the group receiving the oral combination of GS and CS, an improvement of 23.6% (P<0.05) was observed after 50 days of administration, and on day 110 after the start of administration, the WOMAC pain score decreased by 54.7% (P<0.05). Conclusions. Injectable using of BMFC led to significant reduction of pain during short-term administration, and the analgesic effectiveness was maintained for 3 months after treatment. In patients who took the oral form of GS and CS, clinical improvement was observed only on day 50 after the start of administration, and the maximum analgesic effect was established after 110 days of the therapy.