Helps relieve symptoms of bone and joint pain.

Background: Joint Structure

Articular cartilage is the material which gives joints their elasticity and mobility. It is composed of collagen fibers, proteoglycans, and the cells that synthesize and secrete these molecules, chondrocytes. Chondroitin sulphate is an essential building block in proteoglycans and thus is critical for maintaining healthy joint structure and function.

Chondroitin sulphate, as a component of proteoglycans, functions to form strong but flexible cross-linked bridges by binding to collagen fibrils within cartilaginous tissue. This allows cartilage to resist tensile stresses during various loading conditions.

The clinical studies demonstrating efficacy of chondroitin sulphate have been performed in patients with osteoarthritis. In osteoarthritis, articular cartilage deteriorates leading to loss of joint function and weakness.

CELL-fX® supplementation can help in the formation of connective tissue in several ways:

1. Restoring chondroitin sulphate content in the cartilage to healthy levels.
2. Stimulating chondrocytes to synthesize the cartilage building blocks, collagen and proteoglycans.
3. Inhibiting the enzymes that contribute to the degradation of cartilage.
4. Reducing the stimulatory effect of inflammation-associated cytokines (such as interleukin-1B) on enzymes which break down cartilage.

Deterioration of connective tissue prevents joints from moving smoothly and thus causes bone and joint pain. Chondroitin sulphate helps relieve symptoms of bone and joint pain by helping in the formation of connective tissue.

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that CELL-fX® is an antagonist of Parathyroid Hypertensive Factor (PHF). PHF is a naturally occurring hormone which has been shown to be elevated in approximately 30-40% of all people with essential hypertension and in patients with breast or colon cancer, as well as in Type II diabetics.^19,20,21 PHF is thought to contribute to these pathologies by causing chronic excessive intracellular Ca²⁺²².

CELL-fX® has also been shown in laboratory studies to antagonize the stimulatory effects of PHF on vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. This novel activity demonstrated by CELL-fX® may represent a new mechanism of action to support the known antiangiogenic effects of shark cartilage extracts²³.