Chondroitin sulfate falls into a category of compounds known as glycosaminoglycans - basically a long chain of specialized polysaccharides (or sugars). In the body, chondroitin is used as a building block for larger structures known as proteoglycans - which are in turn used to form connective tissues such as cartilage.

For many years, critics of chondroitin sulfate (CS) use for treating arthritis argued that the large size of the CS molecule would prevent it from being absorbed into the body. We now know, however, that as much as ****0% of the CS is absorbed intact (and perhaps substantially more for the newer low-molecular-weight chondroitin), while the remaining percentage is likely digested and absorbed as its component parts.