Our library offers providers with in-depth reviews of ingredients commonly found in supplements. Each review contains information about the ingredient’s clinical applications, formulations, dosing and administration, adverse effects, and pharmacokinetics.
Collagen
Collagen is used to form connective tissues, including skin, bone, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, hair, and nails, and is built from peptide chains consisting of glycine and a combination of other amino acids, most often proline and hydroxyproline. (35) The five most common types of collagen include Type I (dermis, tendon, ligaments, bone), Type II (cartilage, vitreous body, nucleus pulposus), Type III (skin, vessel wall, reticular fibers), Type IV (basal lamina, epithelial layer of basement membranes), Type V (lung, cornea, hair, fetal membranes, bones). (34) Type X collagen may have a role in bone health, (33) particularly through the mineralization of cartilage in the subchondral bone. (1) Supplements may contain collagen derived from bovine, porcine, marine, fish, and other sources, (35) such as eggshell membranes. (28)
Not be confused with: Colostrum
Main uses
- Joint pain and inflammatory disorders
- Skin, bone, and tissue repair
- Other cardiovascular and endocrine applications
Formulations
| Formulation | Bioavailability | |
|---|---|---|
|
Collagen hydrolysate
|
Lower molecular weight increases plasma hydroxyproline concentrations more than gelatin sourced from fish skin (37) |
|
|
Gelatin hydrolysate |
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|
Undenatured collagen |
||
Dosing & administration
| Cellulite | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
2.5 g (as porcine derived bioactive collagen peptides, Type I collagen, Verisol®) per day for 6 months |
|
|
Outcomes |
degree of cellulite and skin waviness dermal density Effects observed to greater extent in subjects with normal BMI compared with higher BMI (31) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
|
|
| Hypertension | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
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|
Dosing & administration
|
2.9 g per day (as chicken derived collagen hydrolysate) for 12 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
systolic BP, trending decrease in diastolic BP, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity serum NO (15) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Injury prevention/tissue repair | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
5 g or 15 g gelatin (enriched with 48 mg vit C) three times per day, 1 hour before exercise for 3 days |
|
|
Outcomes |
serum glycine, proline, hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine (1 hour peak) collagen and mechanics in blood-treated ligaments 15 g doubled collagen I propeptide (32) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
C |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
Vitamin C enriched 15 g gelatin, hydrolyzed collagen or gummy (equal gelatin/collagen content), 1 hour prior to exercise |
|
|
Outcomes |
amino acids in each group, procollagen I N-terminal peptide in gelatin & collagen group Low number of subjects & large variability caused to significant differences (18) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
C |
|
| Joint pain & exercise induced joint pain | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
1.2 g (as bovine derived collagen hydrolysate, AminoLock®) per day for 6 months |
|
|
Outcomes |
pain via VAS score (6) |
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|
Class of evidence
|
|
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
40 mg (as chicken derived undenatured type II collagen, UC-II®) per day for 120 days |
|
|
Outcomes |
knee extension compared to placebo & baseline, exercise time before joint pain (21) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
|
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
10 g (as collagen hydrolysate, CH-alpha®) per day for 24 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
joint pain while resting, walking, standing, carrying objects, & lifting. Effect greater in patients with arthralgia who also had less pain while running and changing direction (8) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
|
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
5 g (as bioactive collagen peptides, Fortigel®) per day for 12 weeks
|
|
|
Outcomes |
activity-related pain intensity (41) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
500 mg (derived from egg shell membrane, NEM®) per day for 2 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
the biomarker C-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type-II collagen (CTX-II), immediate stiffness, recovery pain & recovery stiffness (28) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Osteoarthritis | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
40 mg (as chicken-derived cartilage, undenatured Type II collagen, UC-II®) per day for 180 days |
|
|
Outcomes |
overall WOMAC score, & subscales for pain, stiffness & physical function in the knee (20) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
10 g (as collagen hydrolysate) per day for 6 months |
|
|
Outcomes |
knee joint discomfort via VAS & WOMAC scales (4) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
500 mg (derived from eggshell membrane, NEM®) per day for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
knee pain and stiffness (29) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
2 g (as chicken derived hydrolyzed collagen Type II, BioCell®) per day for 70 days |
|
|
Outcomes |
VAS pain & WOMAC scores, & difficulty of physical activity (30) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Osteoporosis prevention | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
5 g (as bioactive collagen peptides, Fortibone®) per day for 12 months |
|
|
Outcomes |
spine and neck bone mineral density, N-terminal propeptide of type I collagen (P1NP) (14) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Pressure ulcers | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
15 g (as collagen protein hydrolysate) three times per day for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
ulcer healing as measured by PUSH tool scores (16) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Rheumatoid arthritis | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
0.1 mg per day for 1 month, then 0.5 mg for 2 months (as chicken derived Type II hydrolyzed collagen)
|
|
|
Outcomes |
swollen and tender joint frequency (38) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
0.02 mg, 0.1 mg, 0.5 mg, or 2.5 mg (as chicken derived Type II collagen) for 24 weeks. Patients allowed to maintain NSAID/steroid usage |
|
|
Outcomes |
Paulus criteria with 0.02 mg, with trend of decreasing scores with higher doses for Paulus & ACR criteria, & swollen/tender joints (3) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
0.1 mg (as chicken derived Type II collagen) per day for 24 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
pain, morning stiffness duration, tender & swollen joint count, HAQ & efficacy scores. 68.57% & 40.95% patients met ACR20 & ACR50 criteria. MTX more effective in all measures, but had more adverse events (42) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
0.1 mg (as chicken derived Type II collagen) per day for 24 weeks) |
|
|
Outcomes |
All results same as above but 41.55% & 16.89% patients met ACR20 & ACR50 criteria (39) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
| Skin aging | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
5 g per day (as fish cartilage Type I hydrolyzed collagen, Pure Gold Collagen®) for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
dry skin, wrinkles, nasolabial fold depth collagen density, skin firmness (5) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
10 g per day (fish-derived collagen peptides, Peptan®) for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
collagen density, collagen fragment size collagen fragmentation (2) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
2.5 g per day (as porcine-derived bioactive collagen peptides, Verisol® Type I collagen) for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
eye wrinkle volume by 20%, and by 11.5% 4 weeks after end of treatmen procollagen type I & elastin content by 65% & 18%, respectively (26) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
2.5 g, 5 g & 10 g (as scaled collagen hydrolysate), or 10 g (as pig skin collagen hydrolysate) per day for 4 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
skin moisture in a dose dependent manner. Significant difference between 5.0 g and 10.0 g at ages >30 (23) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
2.5 g or 5 g (as porcine Type I collagen hydrolysate, Verisol®) per day for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
skin elasticity, no difference between doses. Greatest effect on ages > 50 (27) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
5 g (as fish derived collagen hydrolysate either as high or low dipeptide to product ratio) per day for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
skin moisture & elasticity wrinkles & roughness in supplement with higher Pro-Hyp and Hyp-Gly compared to lower and placebo (11) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
1 g (fish derived Type I collagen hydrolysate) per day for 12 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
skin moisture, elasticity wrinkles (13) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
10 g per day (fish derived, or porcine derived collagen peptides, Peptan®) for 8 weeks |
|
|
Outcomes |
skin moisture (12% fish, 28% porcine) (2) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
C |
|
| Type II diabetes | ||
|---|---|---|
|
General outcomes from A-level evidence |
No data currently available. |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
6.5 g (as marine collagen peptides) twice per day for 3 months |
|
|
Outcomes |
FBG, GHbA1C, fasting blood insulin, total TGs, total cholesterol, LDL & free fatty acids, hs-CRP, NO insulin sensitivity, HDL, bradykinin, PGI2 & adiponectin (44) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
|
Dosing & administration
|
6.5 g (as marine collagen peptides) twice per day for 3 months
|
|
|
Outcomes |
free fatty acids, hs-CRP, resistin & prostacyclin tendency in CYP450, leptin & NO adiponectin & bradykinin (43) |
|
|
Class of evidence
|
B |
|
Adverse effects
Collagen supplements are generally considered as safe without the common occurrence of adverse effects. (7)(19) Feelings of fullness or disagreeable taste have been reported in rare cases. (22) To avoid the possibility of allergic reactions, consideration of the source of collagen may be required. (29)
Pharmacokinetics
Absorption
- Collagen hydrolysates are degraded in the digestive tract and are mostly absorbed as amino acids, dipeptides, and tripeptides. (40)
- Absorbed via the brush-border membrane using the H+-coupled peptide transporter, PEPT1. (5)
- Ingestion in tripeptide form may improve absorption efficiency in humans. (40)
Distribution
- The collagen hydrolysate peptide, PRO-HYP, is distributed to the skin, cartilage, and bone marrow in its intact form, with its highest concentration in gastric and intestinal walls. (12)
Metabolism
- The liver metabolizes collagen peptides, though many HYP-containing peptides (some of which can be larger than tripeptides) can pass through the liver to enter systemic circulation. (25)