Efficiency of Glucosamine in Treating Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analytic Umbrella Review

Sivakumar S, et al.

Published in Current Rheumatology Reviews

Methodology

Meta-analytic umbrella review synthesising published systematic reviews and meta-analyses of glucosamine for temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis, appraising pain and function outcomes and review quality.

Key Findings

Umbrella review of meta-analyses found glucosamine produced modest reductions in temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis pain and improvements in maximal mouth opening, broadly comparable to NSAIDs such as ibuprofen in some comparisons, but underlying trials were small and inconsistent.

Conclusions

Glucosamine may offer modest symptom relief in temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis, with evidence quality too low for firm recommendation over standard analgesics.

Limitations

Umbrella review inherits weaknesses of small primary trials, overlapping studies across included meta-analyses, heterogeneous glucosamine salts and dosing, short follow-up, and possible publication bias.

Supplements Studied

Glucosamine

Compound

This review with meta-analysis focused on pooled estimate mean differences, revealing non-significant but discernible effects of glucosamine on maximum mouth opening (SMD = 0.288, p = 0.15) and pain reduction (SMD = 0.217, p = 0.476) in TMJ-related disorders.

Chondroitin Sulfate

Compound

Oral glucosamine and chondroitin, slow-acting drugs, have been found to reduce pain and increase mouth opening in patients with TMJ OA.