Be a Taller Individual with Type II Collagen Supplements?

Now Foods UC-II Type II Collagen 40mg, Veg-Capsules, 60-Count

There's not a lot of studies on this but Type II collagen increases CNP levels and it shouldn't have any negative effects.

Therapeutic efficacy of undenatured type-II collagen (UC-II) in comparison to glucosamine and chondroitin in arthritic horses.

"The present investigation evaluated arthritic pain in horses receiving daily placebo, undenatured type II collagen (UC-II) at 320, 480, or 640 mg (providing 80, 120, and 160 mg active UC-II, respectively), and glucosamine and chondroitin (5.4 and 1.8 g, respectively, bid for the first month, and thereafter once daily) for 150 days. Horses were evaluated for overall pain, pain upon limb manipulation, physical examination, and liver and kidney functions. Evaluation of overall pain was based upon a consistent observation of all subjects during a walk and a trot in the same pattern on the same surface. Pain upon limb manipulation was conducted after the walk and trot. It consisted of placing the affected joint in severe flexion for a period of 60 sec. The limb was then placed to the ground and the animal trotted off. The response to the flexion test was then noted with the first couple of strides the animal took. Flexion test was consistent with determining clinically the degree of osteoarthritis in a joint. Horses receiving placebo showed no change in arthritic condition, while those receiving 320 or 480 or 640 mg UC-II exhibited significant reduction in arthritic pain (P < 0.05). UC-II at 480 or 640 mg dose provided equal effects, and therefore, 480 mg dose was considered optimal[So maybe once you have type II Collagen serum levels above a certain level extra has no effect?]. With this dose, reduction in overall pain was from 5.7 +/- 0.42 (100%) to 0.7 +/- 0.42 (12%); and in pain upon limb manipulation from 2.35 +/- 0.37 (100%) to 0.52 +/- 0.18 (22%). Although glucosamine and chondroitin treated group showed significant (P < 0.05) reduction in pain compared with pretreated values, the efficacy was less compared with that observed with UC-II. In fact, UC-II at 480 or 640 mg dose was found to be more effective than glucosamine and chondroitin in arthritic horses. Clinical condition (body weight, body temperature, respiration rate, and pulse rate), and liver (bilirubin, GGT, and ALP) and kidney (BUN and creatinine) functions remained unchanged, suggesting that these supplements were well tolerated."

The pain reduction may be a result of pro-chondrogenic type II collagen effects.

"In dogs and humans, a small amount of undenatured UC-II (10 mg active UC-II/day) taken orally has been shown to turn off the immune response targeted at type-II collagen in joint cartilage, and no adverse effects have been noted"

"UC-II stops the immune system from attacking and damaging its own joint cartilage, thereby improving joint mobility and flexibility"<-this should help in the growth plates as well and when forming new growth plates.

There was no increase in weight by taking type II collagen and chondroitin at the same time so those two compounds together are not likely to increase height on their own.

Safety and efficacy of undenatured type II collagen in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a clinical trial.

Dogs found a 40mg dose a day most effective.

"In a preliminary trial of subjects with OA, taking a single oral daily dose of 40 mg UC-II on an empty stomach prior to bedtime for 42 consecutive days, an average of 26% reduction of pain was noted in four of five subjects in the study."

There have been no studies studying the mechanism of action of type II collagen and no studies in healthy individuals.  But it's possible that undenatured type II collagen may be synergestic towards height increase.

Hydrolyzed fish collagen induced chondrogenic differentiation of equine adipose tissue-derived stromal cells.

This supplement 100% Hydrolyzed Protein Collagen Beauty Supplement 100 Tabs claims to get hydrolyzed collagen from a variety of sources including fish collagen.  Also note that a type I/type III collagen matrix may be pro-chondrogenic as well.  So, other types of collagen than type II may have height promoting effects as well.

"In this study, we investigated the effect of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) in comparison to hydrolyzed fish collagen in terms of the chondrogenic differentiation potential of ADSCs. ADSCs were isolated from subcutaneous fat of horses by liposuction. Chondrogenesis was investigated using a pellet culture system. The differentiation medium was either supplemented with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) or fish collagen (0.5 mg/ml) for a 3 week period. After the 3 weeks in vitro differentiation, RT-PCR and histological staining for proteoglycan synthesis and type II collagen were performed to evaluate the degree of chondrogenic differentiation and the formation of cartilaginous extracellular matrix (ECM). The differentiation of ADSCs induced by TGF-β1 showed a high expression of glycosaminoglycan (GAG). Histological analysis of cultures stimulated by hydrolyzed fish collagen demonstrated an even higher GAG expression than cultures stimulated under standard conditions by TGF-β1. The expression of cartilage-specific type II collagen and Sox9 was about the same in both stimulated cultures. In this study, chondrogenesis was as effectively induced by hydrolyzed fish collagen as it was successfully induced by TGF-β1. These findings demonstrated that hydrolyzed fish collagen alone has the potential to induce and maintain ADSCs-derived chondrogenesis."

Note that the fish collagen was not the sole inducer of chondrogenesis as dexamethasone and Vitamin C(Vitamin C is no problem to obtain in physiological conditions) were also present.

So it's possible that Type II collagen may serve as a differentiation factor that may promote new growth plate chondrogenesis.  It's also possible that undenatured Type II collagen may reduce catabolism in existing growth plates.


Expression of two novel alternatively spliced COL2A1 isoforms during chondrocyte differentiation.

"Alternative splicing of the type II procollagen gene (COL2A1) is developmentally regulated during chondrogenesis. Type IIA procollagen (+ exon 2) is synthesized by chondroprogenitor cells{so with exogenous type IIa procollagen you can make the body think there are chondroprogenitor cells} while type IIB procollagen (- exon 2) is synthesized by differentiated chondrocytes. Two additional alternatively spliced COL2A1 isoforms [are expressed] during chondrocyte differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). One isoform, named IIC, contains only the first 34 nucleotides of exon 2 by the use of an alternative 5' splice site, resulting in a premature termination codon and possible nonsense-mediated decay of IIC mRNA. Low levels of the IIC isoform were detected from differentiating rabbit and human MSCs. A second novel transcript, named IID, arises by the use of another 5' alternative splice site in intron 2. The IID isoform contains exon 2 plus 3 nucleotides, resulting in the insertion of an additional amino acid. The IID isoform was co-expressed with the IIA isoform during chondrogenesis, and was approximately one-third as abundant. Deletion of the IIC alternative 5' splice site from a COL2A1 mini-gene construct resulted in a significant increase in the IIA:IIB ratio. A mutant mini-gene that inhibited production of the IID isoform, however, had differential effects on the production of the IIA and IIB isoforms: this was apparently related to the differentiation status of the cell type used. COL2A1 mRNA abundance and other aspects of chondrocyte differentiation may be regulated by the use of these previously undetermined alternative splice sites."

"the IID splicing event may play a role in regulating the switch from collagen IIA to IIB."

"With further chondrocytic differentiation there is an increase in the production of the IIB isoform, and a decrease in the IIA isoform"