Webinar preview: Lonza discusses demonstrated benefits of UC-II undenatured type II collagen offering

17 Apr 2023 --- Collagen is known for its multifunctional effects on mobility, bone and joint health, beauty-from-within and healthy aging benefits. According to Innova Market Insights, mobility claims in supplement and sports nutrition launches increased 17% from 2020 to 2021, while bone and joint health claims in these categories grew 18% (CAGR) during the same timeframe.

Moreover, the ingredient is being included in more than just supplements. Innova reveals that its inclusion in the bakery category grew 61% from 2018 to 2022.

Ahead of Lonza Capsules & Health Ingredients’ upcoming webinar titled, “The next generation in joint health and mobility with UC-II undenatured type II collagen,” NutritionInsight speaks with the company’s director of R&D for ingredients, Amy Sunderman, and the UC-II coordinator, EMEA, Renato Costa about the benefits and applications of this increasingly sought after ingredient.

“What sets UC-II undenatured type II collagen apart from other collagen ingredients is its unique, proprietary manufacturing process,” state Sunderman and Costa. 

“Most joint health solutions rely on making building blocks of collagen available to the body, although this requires a very high dose for a chance of success. UC-II undenatured type II collagen takes an entirely new approach to joint health via a unique mechanism of action called oral tolerance. It triggers the body’s immune system to start building new cartilage.”Studies have shown that UC-II undenatured type II collagen helps the immune system create cartilage in joints.

A wealth of proven efficacy
According to Sunderman and Costa, UC-II undenatured type II collagen’s benefits are supported by a “wealth” of research. The two note that there have been over 20 studies and 11 human clinical trials on both arthritic and healthy populations over the last two decades.

“Our latest research – a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study – investigated the effects of UC-II undenatured type II collagen on knee joint mobility and flexibility in healthy male and female subjects, aged 20 to 55,” explain Sunderman and Costa.

“In these recently published findings, UC-II undenatured type II collagen was the only joint health ingredient that was found to improve joint flexibility 15 times better than placebo,  help active consumers of all ages hit their daily step count and decrease the duration of joint discomfort by over 30 minutes following physical activity.”

According to the two experts, these results solidify the benefits of the ingredient and present opportunities for brands to provide consumers with science-backed collagen supplements regardless of their age.

Patented production processes
Sunderman and Costa further elaborate on what makes UC-II undenatured type II collagen different from other offerings on the market, underscoring that it is a form of natural collagen concentrate derived from chicken sternum collagen and that the process for extraction – compared to bovine collagen extraction – is much gentler.

“Most collagen products sold in the market today are hydrolyzed collagen produced from bovine sources,” they state. “For denatured forms of collagen – such as gelatin and hydrolyzed collagen – high heat and occasionally enzymes are used to partially or completely hydrolyze the collagen into peptides and polypeptides in gelatin and amino acids and small peptides in hydrolyzed collagen.”

“With this method, the helical structure of the collagen is disrupted and no active epitopes remain, and as such, these collagen types require very large doses to be efficacious. Lonza uses a patented process with lower heat and no enzymes, allowing for the collagen to retain its helical structure and maintain the active epitopes inside the intact polypeptides.”

Naturally efficient
Additionally, they note that, unlike hydrolyzed collagen sources which act as building blocks for joint structures, UC-II works through the immune system’s oral tolerance mechanism, which operates in three steps.

“First, it travels through the gut intact to reach a collection of immune cells in the small intestine, known as Peyer’s patches,” they highlight. “Here, bioactive regions on the collagen triple helix structure – the epitopes – bind with Peyer’s patches. After this step, the binding process triggers an immune response, which stimulates the production of a special class of immune cells called regulatory T (Treg) cells.”The concept gummies are concentrated on joint health and beauty-from-within benefits.

“The Treg cells then travel to the joints, releasing bioactive compounds known as cytokines – small proteins that act as immunomodulatory agents. They work to stimulate chondrocytes’ activity, the cells responsible for cartilage formation, which then activate and promote the growth of new joint cartilage. This pathway in the body requires a very low dose of the ingredient, requiring just 40 mg a day.”

Flexible formats
The company states that, because of the efficacy of the UC-II undenatured type II collagen’s small dose, it lends itself to several format possibilities. Currently, Lonza offers the ingredient in powder in capsule, beadlets in capsule, gummies and in Lonza’s Capsugel Duocap capsule-in-capsule technology formats.

Moreover, the company also developed two gummy concepts with Sirio Pharma. These include the “Jumping Jacks” gummy concept for joint health which combines UC-II with vitamin C and the “Glow” gummy concept to support beauty and mobility using UC-II and other collagen types and formats such as peptides and collagen types I and III.

“Not all collagen is created equal and UC-II undenatured type II collagen gummies work very differently from other products on the market,” conclude Sunderman and Costa. “Because the collagen is in its native form, it triggers the metabolic cascade in the immune system that will lead the body to naturally rebuild and repair cartilage.”

By William Bradford Nichols

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