Proteoglycan F

Food with Functional Claims　

Proteoglycan F has been commercially available for 10 years for beauty and healthy food applications. Oral intake of it has been shown to increase the amount of proteoglycans in the articular cartilage of middle-aged and older adults suffering from knee pain. With growing consumer awareness of the importance of health and quality of life, more functional food products containing Proteoglycan F are expected to become available in the future.

Sports players or discomfort in joints

Proteoglycan, the most important functional component of articular cartilage

Hyaluronic acid and collagen are well-known beauty elements, but proteoglycan has benefits beyond those two. Proteoglycan is highly effective in retaining water and also activate cells, promoting the production of hyaluronic acid and collagen and improving skin elasticity.

Although proteoglycan is beauty element, it also maintains the function of joints, which are important organs for body movement. The cartilage in joints acts like a sponge to soften impact. Proteoglycan is one of the cartilage components and works for elasticity and shock absorption.

Topics

Miraculous ingredient

(SDGs material)

The process of extracting proteoglycans was very difficult and even cost 1 g=. 300,000 USD the early days. Later, through industry-government-academia research, a technology was established to extract large amounts of highly pure proteoglycans from salmon nasal cartilage, and its high effectiveness was confirmed.

Daily intake 50mg

NEXTY AWARDS

「Best New Ingredient」

“Juvecol” (Proteoglycan F) won the Most Outstanding Ingredient Award in Natural Products EXPO 2017

With functions that are not only conventional effect, the joints are improved

With aging, cartilage cells decrease, collagen and proteoglycans are degraded, and the water content of the cartilage matrix also decreases, necessitating daily care. Proteoglycan, a “miraculous new material,” is attracting attention as a revolutionary joint care ingredient that not only replenishes cartilage components, but also improves joint problems by promoting normal cartilage metabolism.

New potential market as a material for joint care

Proteoglycans can be applied to “Food with Functional Claims” as an ingredient to care for joints. In addition, proteoglycans have beauty benefits, which is expected to appeal to a new market. The exercise market is bound to grow as consumers become more health-conscious and aware that exercise is good for their health. However, 75% of women and 54% of men over the age of 50 have knee troubles that impede their exercise. Since proteoglycans have a double effect of beauty care and joint care, they could be developed into a new market, especially for women after middle age, who are more beauty-conscious.

Food with Functional Claims「Proteol G」

Astrim, a group company of Ichimaru Pharcos, manufactures a health food for joint care using Proteoglycan F. The daily intake is 3 capsules.

Inhibition of cartilage degradation

Chondrolysis marker

Inhibition of cartilage degradation (clinical study)

Sixty healthy men and women in their 30s to 70s (mean age 52.4 years) who were concerned about joint discomfort took a capsule containing 10 mg of proteoglycan from salmon nasal cartilage (equivalent to 50 mg of Proteoglycan F) and a placebo, orally, once a day for 16 weeks. The effects on cartilage metabolism were evaluated in a double-blind method. The results showed that Proteoglycan F inhibited cartilage degradation and improved the balance of cartilage metabolism.

Proteoglycan, which is gaining recognition and expanding its market in the beauty field as a “miraculous new material,” also has many excellent research results as a joint care material.

Improvement of cartilage metabolic balance

Cartilage metabolic balance

Decrease in value indicates inhibition of degradation.

Decreased values indicate improved metabolic balance.

Subjects with elevated subjective symptoms of joint conditions

(stratified analysis: JKOM score 41 or higher)

Reference: Akihito Tomonaga, et al.: Exp. Ther. Med., 14(7) 115 - 126, 2017

Company Profile

ICHIMARU PHARCOS Co,.Ltd

https://www.ichimaru.co.jp/english/

318-1 Asagi, Motosu-shi, Gifu, 501-0475 JAPAN

Business Scope

R&D, production, sales, import and export of cosmetic raw materials, health food raw materials and pharmaceutical raw materials.

With functions that are not only conventional effect, the joints are improved

Reference: Takahashi : Functional Food Research, 14 : 36-43, 2018

C1,2C is a chondrolysis marker and PIICP is a cartilage synthesis marker. The ratio of C1,2C/PIICP indicates the relative strength of cartilage degradation to cartilage synthesis.

Improvement of cartilage metabolism

Improvement of knee osteoarthritis

Normal

Improvement of knee osteoarthritis

The proteoglycan from salmon nasal cartilage group (10 mg/day orally, for 4 weeks) maintained more proteoglycans in cartilage than the control group.

Red color indicates proteoglycan

Control

Proteoglycan

Mice with knee osteoarthritis

The deep blue color indicates the proteoglycan

Reference: T. Takahashi, et al.: BIO Clinica, 34（8） 99-104, 2019

Increased of PG concentration in cartilage

Improved quality of cartilage components (clinical study)

Ten healty men and women (aged 49 to 70 years, mean age 60.1 years) with knee discomfort, were orally administered 10 mg of proteoglycan from salmon nasal cartilage (equivalent to 50 mg of Proteoglycan F) for 24 weeks. The quality of the knee cartilage were diagnosed by non-invasive examination using MRI.

T1 ρ mapping

T2 mapping

Before taking

24 weeks

The red to yellow color indicates the denatured collagen

Decrease of denatured collagen in cartilage

Before taking

24 weeks

The joint care market has been dominated for a long time by a few materials, but now that proteoglycan has been approved as a “Food with Functional Claims”, the aspect may change. As the aging society accelerates, the joint care market will continue to grow. Proteoglycan, which is attracting attention as the “Third biological component,” are stimulating and expanding potential market demand as a joint care ingredient.

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Japanese salmon-derived proteoglycans will become a much larger market in the future