Glucosamine active constituents

Table 4 shows the range of values determined for levels of active constituents in samples of formulated glucosamine products. Wide variations are seen, particularly from the report of Russell, Aghazadeh-Habashi, and Jamali, where 14 out of the 15 products tested failed one was found to contain no glucosamine, although no level was actually indicated on the label The other reports showed less extreme variation however, the majority of the products still failed to contain between 95% and 105% of the levels stated on the label, while one in four products failed in the Consumer Reports tests. 

Table 4 Levels of active constituents in glucosamine products...

Table 6 shows the range of values determined for levels of active constituents in samples of formulated combination glucosamine and chondroitin products. Two of the four products tested passed, and three out of the 12 tested by Consumer Reports passed on levels of both components, chondroitin levels being most frequently below 95% of the stated level. " ... 

The amino sugars include D-glucosamine, a constiment of hyaluronic acid (Figure 13-10), D-galactosamine (chondrosamine), a constituent of chondroitin and D-mannosamine. Several antibiotics (eg, erythromycin) contain amino sugars believed to be important for their antibiotic activity. 

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