Consensus

Objectives: to study the specific features of the symptomatic effect and tolerability of paracetamol (P), glucosamine sulfate (GS), chondroitin sulfate (CS), and meloxicam (M) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: An 18-month open-label randomized prospective parallel-group trial enrolled 80 patients with knee OA who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria and signed the informed consent. They had Kellgren and Lawrence grades I-III OA with visual analogue scale pain intensity of > 40mm in the target knee, a body mass index of < 35 rg/m 2 , and no clinical dysfunctions of vital organs and systems. The patients were randomized into 4 groups: 1) P 2g daily; 2) a standard GS regimen; 3) a standard CS regimen; 4) M 15mg daily. The patients were followed up for 18 months, The effectiveness was evaluated by the WOMAC questionnaire, Lequesne index, and OMER-ACT-OARSI (D scenario) during 8 visits. Laboratory and clinical examination as well as electrocardiography were performed. Adverse events were recorded during each visit. Results: After 4 weeks of treatment, symptomatic improvement was noted in all groups; however, the best effect was achieved by the use of M and continued to the end of the study. The percentage of patients reacting to the therapy by the OMERACT-OARSI criteria was highest in M group (100%), reached 90% in GS, 85% in CS groups and 75% in P group. In the groups of P, GS and CS failed to respond to treatment 25, 10, and 15% correspondingly. However, medium narrowing of articular space (NAS) was measured at the end of the study and was significantly lower in GS group (-0.07; p=0,