The Research Behind Green Lipped Mussel
For those of you interested in the science, but without the time to devote to digesting the publications, what follows is a summary of just a few key pieces of research:
A randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study on the efficacy of a unique extract of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) in horses with chronic fetlock lameness attributed to osteoarthritis
Reasons for performing study: Lyophilised products from green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus[LPPC]) are used to orally treat horses with osteoarthritis (OA). However, no randomised, controlled or double-blinded studies on the efficacy of this treatment in horses have been reported to date.
Objective: To investigate the effects of a unique LPPC (Biolane)1 in improving clinical signs of OA in the fetlock.
Methods: Data were analysed from 26 horses with primary fetlock lameness in a controlled, randomised and double-blinded, multi-centre clinical trial. The study design was a partial crossover with a washout period and consisted of 19 horses treated with LPPC and 20 with a placebo. Horses were dosed orally with 25 mg/kg bwt/day LPPC or placebo for 56 days. Efficacy was evaluated by clinical assessment of lameness, passive flexion, pain, swelling and heat in the affected joint. Relationships between variables were analysed using an ordinal logistic model with random effects for horse and horse x treatment according to a modified intention-to-treat analysis.
Results: Clinical evaluation of horses with a fetlock lameness treated with LPPC showed a significant reduction in severity of lameness (P<0.001), improved response to the joint flexion test (P<0.001) and reduced joint pain (P = 0.014) when compared with horses treated with placebo.
Conclusions: The LPPC significantly alleviated the severity of lameness and joint pain and improved response to joint flexion in horses with lameness attributable to OA in the fetlock.
Cayzer J, Hedderley D, Gray S. A randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study on the efficacy of a unique extract of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) in horses with chronic fetlock lameness attributed to osteoarthritis. Equine Vet J. 2012 Jul;44(4):393-8. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00455.x. Epub 2011 Sep 1. PMID: 21883418.
Systematic review of clinical trials of treatments for osteoarthritis in dogs
Objective: To identify and critically evaluate the quality of evidence of the most commonly used pharmacologic, nutraceutical, and purported slow-acting drugs of osteoarthritis for the management of osteoarthritis in dogs by use of the FDA's evidence-based medicine scoring system.
Conclusions and clinical relevance: A high level of comfort exists for meloxicam that the claimed relationship is scientifically valid and that its use is clinically efficacious for the treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs. A moderate level of comfort exists for carprofen; etodolac; pentosan polysulphate; green-lipped mussels; P54FP; polysulfated glycosaminoglycans; and a combination of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride, and manganese ascorbate. An extremely low level of comfort exists for hyaluronan.
Aragon CL, Hofmeister EH, Budsberg SC. Systematic review of clinical trials of treatments for osteoarthritis in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2007 Feb 15;230(4):514-21. doi: 10.2460/javma.230.4.514. PMID: 17302547.
Clinical efficacy and tolerance of an extract of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) in dogs presumptively diagnosed with degenerative joint disease
Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of an extract of green-lipped mussel (GLME) in the management of mild-to-moderate degenerative joint disease (DJD) in dogs.
Methods: Eighty-one dogs presumptively diagnosed with DJD were treated orally daily with either GLME or a placebo for 56 days, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. In an uncontrolled open-label extension to the study, all dogs were treated with GLME for an additional 56 days (from Days 57-112). Clinical signs were subjectively scored by the owners, and findings of detailed musculoskeletal examinations were scored by one veterinarian. Efficacy was assessed from a qualitative comparison of the proportion of dogs with improved clinical signs, and a quantitative comparison of the scores of the musculoskeletal examinations, between groups. Haematological and biochemical analyses and reports by owners of possible adverse drug reactions were used to screen for evidence of toxicity.
Results: There was close agreement between assessments by the veterinarian and owners. The clinical signs of DJD in both GLME-treated and placebo groups improved significantly over baseline by Day 28; this improvement continued over the entire course of the study. There were no significant differences between groups on Day 28. On Day 56, a higher proportion of dogs in the GLME-treated group had improved clinical signs (p=0.018), and GLME-treated dogs had marginally better (p=0.053) musculoskeletal scores than dogs in the placebo group. The differences between the groups were no longer apparent by Day 112, by which time the former placebo group had been receiving GLME for 56 days in the open-label phase of the study. The proportion of dogs in the former placebo group that had improved by Day 112 (29/32; 91%) was significantly greater (p=0.012) than the proportion improved at Day 56 (15/37; 41%). No signs of toxicity were apparent.
Conclusions and clinical relevance: GLME had a beneficial effect on the clinical signs of dogs presumptively diagnosed with mild-to-moderate DJD. Long-term therapy may be required before improvement is apparent.
Pollard B, Guilford WG, Ankenbauer-Perkins KL, Hedderley D. Clinical efficacy and tolerance of an extract of green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) in dogs presumptively diagnosed with degenerative joint disease. N Z Vet J. 2006 Jun;54(3):114-8. doi: 10.1080/00480169.2006.36622. PMID: 16751841.
Maintenance dose is 5gr to 6 gr a day.
Weaned foals, yearlings and two year old 4 gr a day.
Not to be taken if horse suffers from shellfish allergy , in foal or lactating.