Background

BioCell Collagen is a commercially available dietary supplement and branded ingredient comprised of a specific mixture of hydrolyzed collagen type II, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid. BioCell Collagen is marketed as a nutritional support product for skin and joint health (28680,28681,28682,96301).

People use this for...

Safety Safety definitions

Likely Safe ...when used orally and appropriately. Doses of 2 grams per day or less can be safely used by most people (28678,28680,28681,28682,96301). There is insufficient reliable information available about the safety of BioCell Collagen when applied topically.

Pregnancy And Lactation: Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

Effectiveness Effectiveness definitions

POSSIBLY EFFECTIVE

Osteoarthritis. Clinical research shows that taking BioCell Collagen 1 gram twice daily for up to 10 weeks reduces pain and the need for rescue pain medication and increases physical activity compared to placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, or hand (28678,28680).

Aging skin. Preliminary clinical research shows that taking BioCell Collagen 500 mg twice daily for 12 weeks improves some measures of skin dryness, as well as scaling and lines and wrinkles, when compared to baseline in healthy females with visible signs of aging skin (28681).

Exercise-induced muscle damage. Preliminary clinical research shows that taking BioCell Collagen 1.5 grams twice daily for 6 weeks prior to two bouts of intense resistance exercise attenuates increases in biomarkers of muscle damage and decreases delayed onset muscle soreness compared to placebo in healthy, recreationally active adults (96301). More evidence is needed to rate BioCell Collagen for these uses.

Natural Medicines rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate.

Dosing & administration

• AdultOral:

  Exercise-induced muscle damage BioCell Collagen (BioCell Technology) 1.5 grams twice daily for 6 weeks has been used (96301).

  Osteoarthritis BioCell Collagen 1 gram twice daily for up to 10 weeks has been used (28678,28680).

  Skin aging BioCell Collagen 500 mg twice daily for 12 weeks has been used (28681).

• Standardization & formulationEach 500 mg of BioCell Collagen, which is sourced from chicken sternum collagen includes hydrolyzed collagen type II 300 mg, hyaluronic acid 50 mg, and chondroitin sulfate 100 mg (28680,28681,28682,96301). The remaining 50 mg is uncharacterized sternal cartilage components (28680,28681,96301).

Adverse effects

General: Orally, BioCell Collagen is generally well tolerated (28678,28680,28681). One case of a mild skin rash has been reported for a patient taking BioCell Collagen orally (28680).

Dermatologic: A case of a mild skin rash has been reported for a patient who used oral BioCell Collagen (28680).

Toxicology

• In animals, acute administration of BioCell Collagen 5000 mg/kg of body weight given as a single dose does not appear to induce mortality or cause gross pathological lesions, nor does it appear to negatively affect weight gain over the subsequent 14 days (28679). Subchronic administration of BioCell Collagen 0, 30, 300, or 1000 mg/kg of body weight given daily for 90 days does not appear to affect body weight, histopathological outcomes, or mortality (28679).

Interactions with pharmaceuticals

None known.

Interactions with herbs & supplements

None known.

Interactions with foods

None known.

Interactions with lab tests

None known.

Interactions with diseases

None known.

Mechanism of action

General: BioCell Collagen is composed of hydrolyzed collagen type II, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin sulfate (28680,28681,28682).

Dermatologic effects: Skin aging is attributed several molecular processes, including decreased collagen production in dermal fibroblasts and reduced production and integrity of hyaluronic acid. BioCell Collagen contains hydrolyzed collagen type II. In vitro evidence shows that hydrolyzed collagen can stimulate the production of type II collagen and proteoglycans in chondrocytes (28681). Also, BioCell Collagen is metabolized to various dipeptides. In vitro evidence shows that dipeptides can stimulate fibroblasts and chondrocytes to synthesize hyaluronic acid, which helps retain water in both the skin and synovial fluid (28681). Furthermore, evidence from animal research suggests that hydrolyzed collagen can prevent ultraviolet-induced skin damage by increasing the number of fibroblasts and the density and thickness of collagen fibrils in the skin (28681).

Musculoskeletal effects: In humans, after resistance-exercise, BioCell Collagen might enhance extracellular matrix remodeling and musculoskeletal tissues (96301).

Pharmacokinetics

There is insufficient reliable information available about the pharmacokinetics of BioCell Collagen.

References