73 patients, aged 57-75 years of age, with painful OA being experienced in at least one knee, were randomly placed into 3 groups to test the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effect of oral salmon calcitonin (sCT). Two of the groups received varying dosages of oral sCT (0.6 mg vs. 0.8) while the third group received a placebo. Results demonstrated that patients who received oral sCT had lower bone resorption and cartilage degradation markers than the placebo group after the 14 day treatment. Patients in the higher dosage sCT group showed significantly higher calcitonin levels than the lower dosage group at each follow up.