DG DISPATCH -- EULAR: Celebrex Linked To Fewer GI Ulcers
By David Jack
Special to DG News
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND -- June 7, 1999 -- Professor
Gabriele Porro, chairman of gastroenterology, L. Sacco
University, Milan, Italy, reviewed the latest safety data on
Celebrex™ (celecoxib) at the XIV European League
Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress being held in
Glasgow, Scotland.
At clinically effective doses, celecoxib has been shown to
inhibit COX-2 without affecting COX-1, Dr. Porro
explained.
A randomised, double-blind, endoscopic study evaluated
the drug's effects on the gastrointestinal tract and on
platelet function in patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
After 12 weeks of treatment, the rates of gastrointestinal
ulcers (confirmed by endoscopy) in the naproxen group
(500 mg twice daily) were 16.2 percent. In patients
treated with celecoxib, ulcers were found in 3.4 percent
of patients treated with 50 mg twice daily, in 3.1 percent
of patients taking 100 mg twice daily and in 5.9 percent
of patients taking 200 mg twice daily. Ulcers were found
in 2.3 percent of patients in the placebo group.
The incidence of ulceration in the naproxen group was
significantly higher than in the celecoxib groups, although
no significant difference was found among the various
celecoxib dose groups. Similar differences were found
between naproxen and celecoxib in a 12-week trial in
patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In both studies,
there was no difference between celecoxib and placebo
as far as effects on platelet aggregation and bleeding time
were concerned.
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