Effect of Collagen/Vitamin C in Jumper's Knee; a RCT

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) is a tendon overuse injury with high prevalence rates in elite and recreational athletes. PT sometimes results in a prolonged absence from sport participation, hampering individuals to achieve their desired performance levels and to benefit from the health related effects of sports participation. Many treatment options are used but management of PT remains challenging. Current treatment involves progressive education, load management and tendon loading exercises (PTLE). Recent studies have shown that nutrition can positively affect collagen synthesis in musculoskeletal tissues. A study showed that supplementing 15g of gelatine combined with 50mg of Vitamin C, 1 hour before loading exercises, resulted in an increase in whole body collagen synthesis and increased mechanics and collagen content of human engineered ligaments. However the effectiveness of oral supplementation of hydrolysed collagen in combination with vitamin C in athletes with PT has not been studied in a randomized controlled trial yet.

Objective: The primary aim of this RCT is to evaluate whether the use of oral supplementation of hydrolysed collagen/vitamin C in addition to usual care (education, load management and PTLE) is superior to usual care and placebo on VISA-P score after 12, 24 and 52 weeks for athletes with PT. The secondary aim of this RCT is to evaluate whether the use of oral supplementation of hydrolysed collagen/vitamin C in addition to usual care (education, load management and PTLE) is superior to usual care and placebo on other clinical outcome parameters, functional tests and tendon structure after 12 and 24 weeks for athletes with PT.