Glucosamine — a popular supplement used for joint pain — was associated with faster progression to Alzheimer’s disease and worse survival among Alzheimer’s patients, a retrospective study of electronic health records suggested.
Glucosamine use was linked with a 25% higher likelihood of progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia (P<0.001) over 5 years, reported Ramon Sun, PhD, of the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute in Gainesville, and co-authors.
In a 10-year survival analysis, use of the supplement was tied to a 25% increase in mortality risk among patients with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (P=0.0023), the researchers noted in Nature Metabolism.
Ten-year survival analyses in people with mild cognitive impairment showed no significant difference between glucosamine users and non-users (P=0.252), suggesting some effects of glucosamine may be specific to people with established neurodegeneration rather than the general population, Sun and colleagues noted.
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Glucosamine can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence pathways that build complex sugar structures on proteins, a process known as glycosylation. N-linked glycosylation could integrate with pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease, possibly influencing its progression, Sun and colleagues suggested.
