General description

Glucosamine, an amino sugar is generated form glucose and glutamine and is naturally produced in the body. Glucosamine, a endogenous amino monosaccharide is the major source of glucosamine-6-phosphate and n-acetylglucosamine.

Application

Glucosamine has been used as a standard to examine the concentration of glucosamine in the synovial fluid and its pharmacokinetics in serum.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Glucosamine is preferred as a nutritional supplement for individuals with osteoarthritis. It is used as a building block for the production of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans.

Glucosamine, an amino sugar, is the precursor of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway leading to the formation of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), which is then used for making glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, and glycolipids. D-(+)-Glucosamine inhibits the coaggregation of Candida yeast species with the bacterial strain S. salivarius.