Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by oral administration of bovine tracheal type II collagen

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of orally administered bovine tracheal type II collagen (CGII) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Twe nty RA patients received 0.5 mg/day of CGII for 12 weeks. Eighteen of them had improvements in the clinical parameters studied (swollen and tender joi nt counts, 15-m walking time, duration of morning stiffness, and physician' s global assessment of disease activity). Anti-CGII antibodies were positiv e in 57% and rheumatoid factor (RF) in 71% of the patients with, a short hi story of RA ( less than or equal to2 years), whereas only 23% of those with long histories (>2 years) presented autoantibodies to CGII and 38% had pos itive RF. After the treatment, four patients showed reduced RF levels and a ll those with detectable serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) expe rienced its return to normal or levels below those at study entry. Although a placebo effect cannot be discounted, the oral administration of bovine t racheal CGII induced clinical benefits in 90% of the patients, without the side effects usually associated with treatment. This is the first study sho wing that feeding CGII can induce reductions in RF and TNF-alpha. The data justify further controlled studies to assess the long-term efficacy of this treatment approach.