oral GAGs
JOHNSON@vets.vetmed.missouri.edu
Mon, 28 Oct 1996 09:08:24 +1100
An interesting and challenging question: Do orally-administered
polysulfonated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAGs) afford medical benefit to the
health of synovial joints (specifically, perhaps, the quality of
articular cartilage)? Are PSGAGs absorbed from the intestinal tract to
any sort of clinically useful extent or are they destroyed by the
digestive process? EXPENSIVE commercial oral PSGAG preparations are
commonly used to promote the well-being of articular cartilage in
athletes (equine, canine, and human). Could that expense be recovered by
simply supplementing a horse's ration with sulfur?? I have not seen
(doesn't mean that it doesn't exist) convincing scientific evidence that
oral administration of PSGAGs is useful. Has anyone else?