{
  "slug": "collagen-type-ii",
  "name": "Undenatured Type II Collagen (UC-II)",
  "alternate_names": [
    "UC-II",
    "Native (undenatured) type II collagen",
    "Chicken sternum cartilage collagen"
  ],
  "mechanism": [
    "Oral immune tolerance via gut-associated lymphoid tissue (Peyer's patch) — research-context mechanism for the undenatured triple-helix form",
    "Regulatory T-cell (Treg / FOXP3) induction and downregulation of autoreactive response to type II collagen (mechanistic, RA-context studies)",
    "TGF-beta-mediated immunomodulation of the response to articular cartilage antigens",
    "Proposed NF-kB signaling modulation linked to inflammatory-marker changes",
    "Triple-helix native structure is hypothesized to be the determinant of the tolerance pathway (vs denatured/hydrolyzed forms)"
  ],
  "target": [
    "Gut-associated immune system (Peyer's patches)",
    "Regulatory T cells / FOXP3",
    "TGF-beta pathway",
    "NF-kB signaling (proposed)",
    "Articular cartilage type II collagen antigen"
  ],
  "use_case": [
    "knee joint comfort and function in osteoarthritis populations (research context)",
    "joint flexibility / knee range-of-motion in healthy, active adults (research context)",
    "post-exercise joint comfort and active-lifestyle joint support (research context)",
    "head-to-head comparison vs glucosamine + chondroitin (research context, single trial)",
    "oral immune tolerance / rheumatoid-arthritis mechanism (mechanistic / preliminary — no confirmatory modern hard-endpoint RCT)"
  ],
  "body_system": [
    "MUSCULO",
    "IMMUNE",
    "CONNECTIVE"
  ],
  "evidence_tier": "A",
  "evidence_anchor_pmid_count": 4,
  "dosage_range": "40 mg/day standardized UC-II (containing ~10 mg bioactive undenatured type II collagen); 90-180 day intervention windows in knee osteoarthritis RCTs (onset ~4-12 weeks); 12-24 weeks in healthy-knee range-of-motion RCTs. Distinct from hydrolyzed type II collagen, which is studied at gram-level doses (1-10 g/day) and is a different molecular form — UC-II data must not be extrapolated to hydrolyzed collagen.",
  "safety_notes": "Generally well tolerated in human RCTs at 40 mg/day for 90-180 days, with adverse-event rates comparable to placebo (Crowley 2009 PMID 19847319; Schön 2022 PMID 35377244); rarely mild, transient GI complaints (nausea, bloating) not significantly different from placebo. ALLERGEN: derived from chicken sternum cartilage (Gallus gallus domesticus) — individuals with chicken/poultry or egg-protein allergy should exercise caution and source must be labeled. No well-characterized drug interactions; individuals on immunosuppressant therapy may wish to consult a clinician given the proposed immune-tolerance mechanism. Insufficient safety data in pregnancy/lactation (not recommended) and in children/adolescents (excluded as an unsuitable population under China's Novel Food Ingredient notification).",
  "regulatory": {
    "fda": "US FDA — DSHEA dietary supplement; structure/function claims permitted with mandatory disclaimer. UC-II (Lonza, formerly InterHealth) holds GRAS status (self-determined GRAS (Bioiberica Collavant n2 and others)) and a New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notification record. Disease/treatment claims for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis are prohibited.",
    "efsa": "EU — legal to market as a food supplement under Directive 2002/46/EC; chicken-source type II collagen has a use history (not classified as Novel Food, though specific new extraction processes may trigger case-by-case evaluation). EFSA has NOT authorized any Article 13/14 health claim for type II collagen (no company application submitted); only ingredient-fact statements are permissible in the EU.",
    "anvisa": "Brazil ANVISA — permitted dietary supplement (Suplemento Alimentar) under RDC 243/2018; the positive list (IN 28/2018 Anexo I, as amended by IN 76) includes the entry 'Colágeno de frango com colágeno tipo II não desnaturado.' Anexo III minimum effective dose 1.2 mg/day (>=19 yr); Anexo IV sets no explicit upper limit. Commercial UC-II dose of 40 mg/day is a market consensus (Lugo 2016), not a regulatory ceiling. Portuguese-language labeling and poultry-allergen consideration required."
  },
  "authorized_claims": [],
  "ingredient_hub_url": "https://asxan.ai/ingredients/collagen-type-ii/",
  "related_goal_slugs": [
    "joint-bone"
  ],
  "related_lifestyle_slugs": [
    "senior-60-plus"
  ],
  "last_evidence_review": "2026-06-13",
  "schema_version": "nc-public-v0.2",
  "api_version": "nc-public-v0.3",
  "_meta": {
    "last_evidence_review": "2026-06-13",
    "ip_axes_disclosed": {
      "public_axes": [
        "mechanism",
        "target",
        "use_case",
        "body_system",
        "evidence_tier",
        "dosage_range",
        "safety_notes",
        "regulatory",
        "authorized_claims"
      ],
      "ip_axes_not_exposed": [
        "proprietary_formula_ratios",
        "clinical_protocol_internals",
        "rnd_pipeline_compounds",
        "supplier_specific_grade_specifications",
        "unpublished_endpoint_data"
      ],
      "rationale": "asxan.ai surfaces the educational, evidence-tier-disclosed slice. Formula composition, clinical-protocol internals, and RnD pipeline data are intentionally outside this public surface."
    }
  }
}