Collagen usage is ever increasing as it has been proved to offer satisfactory results in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). The results of the current meta-analysis state that oral administration of collagen decreases the symptoms of OA, as both the total WOMAC index and VAS score reduced significantly in this analysis.  

Osteoarthritis is a prevalent chronic disease and one of the most common causes of disability. Collagen provides satisfactory results for OA, but, the possible beneficial effects of collagen for OA treatment are presently controversial. The present meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of collagen-based supplements on the symptoms of OA.

PubMed-Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were explored for randomized placebo-controlled trials examining the effect of orally administered collagen on OA symptoms. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and/or Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) were used to analyse the results. Meta-analysis was carried out using a generic inverse variance method and random-effects model. The I2 statistic index method was used to test the heterogeneity.

Collagen treatment significantly reduced the score of the total WOMAC index i.e., WMD - 8.00 with 95% CI - 13.04, - 2.95; p = 0.002. Following the subgroup analysis of the WOMAC subscores, the collagen supplementation also significantly decreased the stiffness subscore i.e., WMD - 0.41 with 95% CI - 0.74, - 0.08; p = 0.01, on the other hand pain as, WMD - 0.22 with 95% CI - 1.58, 1.13; p = 0.75 and the functional limitation as WMD - 0.62 with 95% CI - 5.77, 4.52; p = 0.81, subscores did not possess significant differences. Lastly, a significant reduction was observed in the VAS score after administering  collagen i.e., WMD - 16.57; with 95% CI - 26.24, - 6.89; p < 0.001.

Oral Collagen found to effectively alleviate the OA symptoms by the decreasing the total WOMAC index and VAS score.