ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:Glucosamine hydrochloride is considered to have the role in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Whether it is effective for varying degrees of osteoarthritis and whether there are efficacy differences between the combinations nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and simple glucosamine hydrochloride need further clinical research. OBJECTIVE:To compare the clinical effects between glucosamine hydrochloride capsules and combined with celecoxib for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis through prospective study. METHODS:According to Lequesne score, 152 patients with knee osteoarthritis were divided into mild, moderate and severe groups, then each group was divided into groups treated just by glucosamine hydrochloride and groups treated by glucosamine hydrochloride combined with celecoxib randomly. The Lequesne score was recorded at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after drug administration and 8 and 12 weeks after drug withdrawal, and then the adverse reactions of glucosamine hydrochloride were compared between groups and before and after treatment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the mild group, there was significant difference in Lequesne score of glucosamine hydrochloride group at 4 weeks after treatment and 12 weeks after drug withdrawal when compared with that before treatment;the Lequesne score was improved in the combined group at 2 weeks after treatment, and there was significant difference between two groups at 2 and 4 weeks after treatment, it showed that the combined group improved the score, which was more significant than the glucosamine hydrochloride group. In the moderate group, the Lequesne score in the glucosamine hydrochloride group was lower than that in the combined group at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after treatment and 8 weeks after drug withdrawal (P<0.05). It showed that the effect of glucosamine hydrochloride combined with celecoxib for the treatment of medium knee osteoarthritis was better than that of glucosamine hydrochloride. In the serious group, there was no significant difference in Lequesne score between two groups before and after treatment. The results indicate that the clinical symptoms of mild knee osteoarthritis patients can be significantly improved by a single use of glucosamine hydrochloride. To moderate osteoarthritis, combination therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is recommended to improve clinical symptoms, and both of the two methods are invalid on severe knee osteoarthritis patients.