OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of administering chondroitin and glucosamine for bone healing in an animal model. METHODS: This experimental study involved the use of 50 male adult Lewis rats. The animals were randomically divided into four groups of 10 animals each, as follows: group I, with administration of glucosamine; group II, with administration of chondroitin; group III, with the administration of a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin: group IV, with administration of distilled water (control group). A close fracture was produced in the mid shaft of the right tibia and of the right fibula in each animal, followed by the daily administration of the drugs according to the groups, for 30 days. After such period, the animals were sacrificed to study the bone calluses that formed. Evaluation criteria were a clinical evaluation of bone healing, measurement of the mineral density of the bone callus using bone densitometry and a planigraphic calculation of the callus area that was formed. The data collected were evaluated by the variance analysis technique (ANOVA) to check for differences among the mean values in the four groups of the study, and by the Tukey test to compare the means two by two. A significance level of 5% (alpha = 0,05) was adopted. RESULTS: The use of chondroitin and glucosamine, either alone or in combination, did not yield an increased area of bone callus or of the bone mineral density, and there was no clinical improvement in bone healing. CONCLUSION: The administration of chondroitin and glucosamine in this study did not have any impact - either positive or negative on the healing of experimental fractures in rats.
Fractures, bone; Fracture healing; Cartilage, articular; Chondroitin; Glucosamine; Rats
