Glucosamine, a widely used supplement marketed for joint pain relief, may be linked to faster progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to research from the University of Florida. People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who reported taking glucosamine had a 25% higher likelihood of developing dementia than those who did not use the supplement. Evidence suggests that glucosamine may interact with biological processes in the brain that are already disrupted in Alzheimer's disease.

The findings are based on an analysis of patient health records combined with advanced imaging studies of human brain tissue and mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers analyzed health records collected between 2012 and 2024, focusing on patients diagnosed with either Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) or MCI.

Glucosamine use was relatively common: 1,896 patients with ADRD and 2,750 patients with MCI reported taking the supplement, representing about 8% of each group. After controlling for factors such as age, sex, and demographics, the analysis showed that in addition to the greater likelihood of developing dementia, glucosamine use was linked to a 25% increase in mortality risk among those already diagnosed with ADRD.

The study also pointed to a specific biological process that may explain the association, said senior author Ramon Sun, PhD, director of the Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research at the university’s McKnight Brain Institute. Researchers found that a protein and sugar-tagging pathway is excessively active in Alzheimer's disease.

"Our results suggest that altered metabolism is a significant contributor to Alzheimer's progression and, in addition, addressing the metabolic defect could be an important complement to approaches focused on Alzheimer's plaques and tangles," Sun said. Mouse studies provided additional evidence to support this theory.

Although the results do not prove that glucosamine causes dementia and will need to be confirmed in clinical trials, the work adds to growing evidence that metabolic dysfunction plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases, the authors concluded.

To download the study, published in Nature Metabolism, click here