CMO: New Approach To Joint Health And Arthritis

Marcia Zimmerman, C.N.
Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, March 2002

Cetyl myristoleate is the latest ingredient to address the burgeoning arthritis market. Marcia Zimmerman, C.N., looks at some of the research conducted on the compound that promises to ease joint pain and stiffness for millions.

In the United States, 1 million patients develop arthritis each year. It is estimated 60 million people will have arthritis by the year 2020, according to the National Arthritis Action Plan: A Public Health Strategy, jointly proposed by the Arthritis Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Association of State and Territorial Officials. Nearly 50% of people older than 65 feel arthritic pain; younger people have less risk of arthritis but still comprise half of those affected. Arthritis also affects about 250,000 children in the US.

The quest for new drugs or nutritional supplements to prescribe for symptom relief for patients with chronic and disabling rheumatic conditions is constant and ongoing. The research drive has led to the discovery of cetyl myristoleate (CMO), a supplement that may help people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and several other painful joint disorders.

Cetyl myristoleate is the cetyl alcohol ester of myristoleic acid. Technically, myristoleic acid is known as 9-cis-tetradecenoic acid or by its molecular name, C14 H26 02, a 14-carbon mono-unsaturated omega-5 fatty acid. Myristoleic acid has undetermined biological significance in humans. It's a natural component of the fat of whales, beavers and bovines, and its acetylated form, cetyl myristoleate, is found in a particular species of lab mouse. It's therefore surprising that CMO became a potential palliative for arthritis and other rheumatic conditions. Current use of this remarkable material stems from a serendipitous event that occurred in the early 1960s at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Discovery OF CMO

The late Harry Diehl, a research chemist at NIH, discovered cetyl myristoleate in 1964 after spending two years trying to isolate the substance that protected Swiss albino mice from getting arthritis. He tested the compound on laboratory rats that normally developed arthritis after exposure to Freund's adjuvant. Some of the rats were injected with cetyl myristoleate doses totaling 350­375mg per kg of body weight before being administered the adjuvant. Others were injected with a lower dose of cetyl myristoleate before being exposed to the toxin, and a third group of rats served as controls, getting only the adjuvant. The rats in the first group were 100% 'immunized' against arthritis. The other groups of rats developed arthritis symptoms. Accordingly, Diehl was awarded three patents between 1976 and 1996 for the use of cetyl myristoleate in preventing and treating various forms of arthritis.

Unable to garner interest in his discovery, Diehl cloaked his knowledge for 30 years until, on the advice of his physician, he published his findings in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. By then Diehl himself was suffering from arthritis, and he alleviated his pain in just 10 days by using a topical cetyl myristoleate preparation.

For his treatment, Diehl isolated myristoleic acid from butter, esterified it with cetyl alcohol, and applied it topically in a 10% cetyl myristoleate solution of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). He was pain-free for five years.

Some physicians took note of the published article and began treating arthritis patients with cetyl myristoleate. Many patients experienced relief in 30 to 60 days—relief that often lasted for months or even years.

It should be noted that cetyl myristoleate is always a complex of acetylated fatty acids. Other fatty acids that naturally occur with it are lauric, myristic, pamitic, palmitoleic, stearic and oleic acids. In preparing the raw material, the relative amounts of these other fatty acids can be controlled by distillation and crystallization to yield the desired fatty acid profile. This is what distinguishes the various cetyl myristoleate products. According to Charles Cochran, DC, who has worked with cetyl myristoleate for many years, the best results come from products that contain between 20 and 30% cetyl myristoleate. The ratios of the other fatty acids appear to be less important. However, Cochran suggests that cetyl myristate and cetyl myristoleate may also have biological value, while cetyl palmitate and cetyl oleate may interfere with cetyl myristoleate activity.

Clinical Findings

Humberto Siemandi, M.D., Ph.D, conducted a multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 1997 involving 382 patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. The patient group was selected to assess the effectiveness of cetyl myristoleate against several rheumatic conditions. One group of patients used 90g/day CM complex containing 12% cetyl myristoleate. A second group took the same amount of cetyl myristoleate complex plus glucosamine hydrochloride (GH), sea cucumber (SC) and hydrolysed cartilage (HC). The third group took a placebo. Outcome was measured by patient response, physician assessment, joint pain, swelling scores and several measures of range of motion. Patients in the treated groups showed significant improvement in symptoms, especially after 60 days. Patient and physician reports were similar: 63% for the cetyl myristoleate group; 87% for the cetyl myristoleate plus GH-SC-HC group; and 14% for the placebo group.  Many clinicians include glucosamine and chondroitin, which have been shown to improve arthritic symptoms, as part of a cetyl myristoleate treatment protocol.

In 2000, researchers from the Genesis Center for Integrative Medicine in Washington state completed a six-week, open trial with cetyl myristoleate complex. Thirteen pre-menopausal women diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were treated with a 2,200mg/day oral dose of CM (15% CM) for four weeks (total CM was 9.2g), followed by a two-week washout period. Researchers measured patient symptoms before supplementation, then at four weeks and again at six weeks (after a two-week washout period).

Arthritis symptoms were evaluated using the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale, which measures the patient's physical and psychological disability. Researchers also assessed hand-grip strength and associated inflammation. The trial participants experienced a 20% reduction in pain, a 20% increase in grip strength, and more than a 350% improvement in their ability to complete household tasks. No change in inflammation rate was seen. Symptoms continued to improve even after the two-week washout period.  Although this study was not published, the results are similar to those reported in 2001.

Raj Barathur, M.D., and colleagues conducted a large, double-blind, placebo-controlled study at the Medical Centre of Manipal, India. Results of this study were presented at the March—April 2001 meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Sixty-four patients with chronic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee were divided into two groups and evaluated three times during 68 days. Half of the patients were given three capsules twice daily containing 350mg of CM complex including 74mg of CM. The total amount of cetyl myristoleate administered during the 68-day trial was 30 g. The other group of patients was given a vegetable oil placebo. Among the patients, a total of 37 joints were affected with OA. The McMaster Toronto Arthritis Patient Preference Questionnaire (MACTAR) was used to measure multi-joint function. Another test, Lequesne's Disease Severity Index (LDSI), identified knee pain, stiffness and loss of function related to OA of the knee. Physicians use a standard goniometer to measure loss or improvement of knee joint flexion. None of the patients was taking corticosteroids, had inflammatory or autoimmune arthritis or had had his or her gall bladder removed.

After 30 days, the CM group experienced a significant improvement in the MACTAR score (pre-15.6 and post-10.4) compared to the placebo group (pre-15.3 and post-13.1) and a reduction in the LDSI (pre-15.6 and post-10.6) compared with placebo (pre-15.8 and post-13.9). Greater ease of movement while performing activities such as walking and climbing stairs was also reported. Knee flexion motion range improved by 10.1 degrees compared to 1.1 degrees in the placebo group. These benefits continued after 60 days.

Absorption And Safety Of CM

Cetyl myristoleate appears to be a safe supplement and well tolerated by most patients, although there is no published information available on its absorption and metabolism. The digestibility of cetyl myristoleate has been questioned, since some patients fail to respond and a few have reported digestive disturbances. Consequently, physicians may have advised taking high-lipase digestive enzymes to improve utilization. On the flipside is concern that hydrolysis of CM into cetyl alcohol and fatty acids in the gut might reduce its effectiveness.

Imagenetix, a marketer of CM products, sponsored an animal study at the University of Minnesota to help answer the question of digestion and absorption. Rats that had been on a purified diet for several days were divided into groups—one that continued on the diet and another that was fed chow containing two per cent CM. After two hours, the stomach and intestinal contents of the rats were collected and the intestinal mucosa scraped. Lipids were extracted, separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and hydrolysis was evaluated by the presence of cetyl alcohol. No cetyl alcohol was found in any sample from the rats that ate the CM-free chow. In those eating the CM diet, no cetyl alcohol was found in the stomach, intestinal contents or mucosa, indicating hydrolysis had not taken place. However, intact CM was found inside mucosal cells, demonstrating absorption.

While CM is capable of absorption in rats as an intact molecule, dietary and environmental factors may impair its absorption in humans. Presumably, that's why some people who don't respond well to oral cetyl myristoleate may get better results with topical.

In an independent study, Hungarian researchers performed an initial dose range-finding toxicity study with rats. Four groups of 10 rats each (five male, five female) were given varying amounts of cetyl myristoleate orally for seven days. One group served as controls and the other three groups received 500mg/kg body weight, 1,000mg/kg or 2,000mg/kg daily. None of the animals suffered any ill effects.