Evaluation of Glucosamine and Snail Mucin on the Progression of Experimental Knee Osteoarthritis in Dogs

Abstract

SUMMARY:This study evaluated the effect of oral glucosamine and intramuscular injection (IM) of snail mucin on the progression of experimental osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs. Twenty adult mongrels with mean body weight (12.4±1.8 kg) were used. Experimental OA was induced surgically using the groove model. The dogs were randomly divided into three groups following radiographic evidence of OA. Group one (control) comprised of ten dogs treated with normal saline twice weekly for four weeks following OA. Group two comprised of five dogs treated with 10mg/kg of oral glucosamine daily for four weeks. Group three comprised of five dogs treated with 5mg/kg intramuscular injection of 5% solution of snail mucin twice weekly for four weeks. Blood was obtained from the cephalic vein before surgical arthrotomy, after surgical arthrotomy, immediately after radiographic confirmation of OA (Week 0) and at two weeks interval up to 4 weeks of treatment. Efficacy of the drugs was assessed by changes in plasma IL-6 and MMP-3, while safety was determined using the changes in packed cell volume (PCV), total white blood cell counts (WBC) and observable adverse reactions associated with the administration of the drugs. In this study, the PCV and WBC did not differ significantly (P> 0.05) from the control group. Plasma IL-6 and MMP-3 were significantly (P< 0.05) lower both in glucosamine-treated and snail mucin-treated dogs up to week 4 of treatment when compared with the control group. However, there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences in IL-6 and MMP-3 between the two treatment groups. In addition, painful swelling at the site of injection was observed in dogs treated with snail mucin, while no adverse reaction was observed in dogs treated with oral glucosamine. It was therefore concluded that both oral glucosamine and IM injection of snail mucin comparably modified the progression of OA. However, owing to the adverse reaction noted with IM injection of snail mucin, further study is required to determine the most appropriate route of administration.

Mucins as multifunctional building blocks of biomaterials

“…174 Originating from a long tradition of using snail mucus for healing purposes, 127 mucins extracted from Archachatina maginata snail mucus were tested as a component of drug delivery materials 175 and as injectable matrices for treating knee osteoarthritis. 176 In this latter study, intramuscular injections of snail mucins seemed to lower the levels of IL-6 and MMP-3 osteoarthritis markers in an experimental model of knee osteoarthritis in dogs. Some inflammation was noticed after prolonged injection, which could be attributed to the relatively crude mucin extraction protocol used.…”

Antiinflammatory Activity of Slime Extract from Giant African Snail (Lissachatina fulica)

“…This might have been due to the ability of the slime extract to decrease the inflammatory signals that enhance the granuloma formation. It was reported that extracts from snails could decrease plasma IL-6, an inflammatory cytokine in osteoarthritis-induced dog [27] and decrease COX level induced in inflammatory keratinocytes [28] . In the study, the slime extracts also improved the oxidative status of cotton-pellet induced granuloma in rats.…”

Prediction of Antibacterial Peptides against Propionibacterium acnes from the Peptidomes of Achatina fulica Mucus Fractions

“…The glycoprotein, achatin, has antibacterial and analgesic properties [ 17 ]. Previous medical research reported that the snail mucus reduced lung inflammation, and lecithin has been used as a prognostic indicator for some cancers, such as breast, stomach, and colon [ 18 ]. The small peptides in mucus also had anticancer properties against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 [ 11 ].…”