Collagen Supplements
Sarah Quadri, Bachelor of Science in Biomolecular Science

Appendix from Prolotherapy: Living Pain Free

Part 2 of article
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Note: the high levels of glycine and proline offer ideal building blocks for repair of muscles, tissues, and skin. By supplementing this natural ratio of amino acids, rather than large, random amounts of certain amino acids, an individual can receive more balanced collagen support.

Oral supplementation of collagen type I & collagen type III can be used not only for aesthetic concerns like hair, skin, and nails, but also to address damage such as a torn meniscus, back muscle problems, and even nutritional support for muscle and collagen diseases like fibromyalgia and Ehlers Danlos syndrome.

In fibromyalgia, a disease involving unexplainable muscle pain, some speculate that some sufferers may have low amounts of collagen type III in their bodies, and this may be addressed with supplementation and nutrition. Interestingly enough, collagen type III is especially important in that it is the earliest collagen laid down by the body in the connective tissue healing process. In the genetic disease Ehlers Danlos syndrome, individuals lack the chromosomal marker for making collagen and suffer pain as a result. Individuals supplementing their diets with collagen type I and collagen type III have seen some relief in their symptoms, in particular when using Super Collagen™ brand of collagen type I & collagen type III (by NeoCell Corporation experienced in collagen since 1986).

Collagen Type II

Collagen type II is the major structural component of hyaline and elastic cartilage, intervertebral discs, and vitreous humour. Collagen type II, is also a fibril forming collagen; it complexes with important carbohydrates in these areas where resistance to tension is needed.
   
Collagen type II extracted from chicken sternal cartilage offers the components to supply the joints with the building blocks needed for repair. The protein content of chicken collagen II is approximately 65 70% (less than collagen I & III) and 30 35% of naturally occurring mucopolysaccharides (specialized     carbohydrates in the body) that includes chondroitin, glucosamine, and most importantly hyaluronic acid. The composition of chicken collagen type II protein consists of eighteen amino acids. The percentages and molecular weights are different than those found in the collagen type I & III*.

Alanine 10.79%
Lysine 4.72%
Arginine 4.81%
Methionine 1.10%
Aspartic Acid 7.95%
Phenylalanine 2.41%
Glutamic Acid 13.47%
Proline 8.75%
Glycine 24.60%
Serine 2.37%
Histidine 1.51%
Threonine 2.46%
Isoleucine 3.74%
Tyrosine 1.19%
Leucine 5.85%
Valine 4.28%
*represent average grams amino acid per 100 grams amounts may vary.

Collagen type II has only traces of hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, the primary difference in comparison with collagen type I & III. This property, along with its unique amino acid composition and the complexing it has with mucopolysaccharides gears collagen type II to address cartilage tissue properties, including tensile strength, cushioning, and toughness.

Chicken collagen type II can be unhydrolyzed, undenatured, or hydrolyzed, and there are differing views on the benefits of each. Undenatured chicken collagen type II is "native" and unprocessed, and is theorized to induce a process of oral immune tolerance to address rheumatoid arthritis. It is thought that introducing small amounts of undenatured chicken collagen to the body may trigger positive recognition of collagen type II in the body so that the body's immune system will halt attacks of collagen type II in the joints. Small amounts are necessary because using larger amounts of native collagen type II can actually induce arthritic responses in the body.