Vanderbilt University Medical Center study sheds light on side effects of COX-2 drugs
It's been about a decade since the promise of COX-2 inhibitors -- drugs that relieve arthritis pain and inflammation without the gastrointestinal side effects of other painkillers -- was tempered by the realization that they could cause heart problems in some patients.
Their findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to development of a new, better-targeted class of drugs that relieve pain without causing vascular effects.
Prostaglandins are molecules produced by the cyclooxygenase enzymes -- COX-1 and COX-2 -- that play a role in inflammation, among other wide-ranging effects. Macrophages, a kind of white blood cells, also are involved in inflammation.
However, prostaglandin production by macrophages also seems to have a protective effect on heart function, by modulating hyper tension and edema -- fluid retention -- in response to a high-salt diet.