What Is Glucosamine?
Glucosamine is an organic compound classified as a monosaccharide.
It is classified as an amino sugar among monosaccharides because the hydroxyl group on the second carbon of glucose is replaced by an amino group. Its chemical formula is C6H13NO5 and its CAS registration number is 3416-24-8.
Its molecular weight is 179.17, melting point 150°C, density 1.563 g/mL, and acid dissociation constant pKa 7.5. Glucosamine hydrochloride, which is produced in isolation, has the appearance of white crystals or a crystalline powder.
The hydrochloride is soluble in water and insoluble in ethanol and acetone. The CAS registration number for the hydrochloride is 66-84-2.
Uses of Glucosamine
Glucosamine is one of the major components of articular cartilage. Since it is known that the amount of glucosamine produced decreases with age, it has been widely used in supplements in recent years.
In nature, it is known to exist in large amounts as a major component of chitin in crabs and shrimps. When taken as a supplement or in foods, it is said that taking it together with chondroitin, which is also a major component of cartilage, can better prevent wear and tear of knee cartilage.
For this reason, many products contain both chondroitin and glucosamine. In addition, reagent products for research and development are often used to study physiological effects.
Characteristics of Glucosamine
Glucosamine is obtained by hydrolysis of chitin (a polysaccharide macromolecule). In industrial production, chitin is extracted from shrimp and crab shells.
Glucosamine is a substance that is commercialized in the form of hydrochloric acid salts after hydrolyzing these chitins with hydrochloric acid in order to crystallize them.
Types of Glucosamine
Glucosamine is widely available to the public in the market as a dietary supplement and functional food. It is sold by various manufacturers and comes in a variety of forms, including capsules, tablets, and drinks.
In addition to those commercialized as stand-alone products, there are also a variety of products mixed with chondroitin, collagen, proteoglycans, and so on. It is also manufactured and sold as an industrial raw material for the production of these health foods.
In academic fields such as chemistry and biochemistry, they are also sold as reagents for research and development. In the case of reagent products, they are usually offered as D-glucosamine hydrochloride.
This reagent product can be handled at room temperature. It is available in 10 mg, 25 g, 100 g, 500 g, and 1 kg volumes, making it easy to handle in the laboratory.
Other Information on Glucosamine
1. Biochemistry of Glucosamine
Biochemically, D-glucosamine is the biochemical precursor of all nitrogen-containing sugars. It is synthesized in the metabolic pathway in the form of Glucosamine-6-phosphate.
Specifically, glucosamine-6-phosphate is synthesized from fructose-6-phosphate and glutamine by glucosamine-6-phosphate deaminase. This is the first step in the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway.
The end product of this biosynthetic pathway is uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), which is used to synthesize glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans and glycolipids. It is a raw material for the production of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, and various other components.
Clinical Effects of Glucosamine
Studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of supplements containing glucosamine, either alone or in combination with other drugs, in osteoarthritis, a condition that destroys the cartilage in joints. The major studies of glucosamine for knee osteoarthritis have had conflicting results, with some showing evidence of improvement and others showing no significant improvement.
Whether glucosamine is effective for knee osteoarthritis pain and whether it reduces osteoarthritis pain in other joints is controversial, and no definitive conclusions have yet been reached.