NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In vitro studies suggest that the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective inhibitor celecoxib may have a positive effect on hyaluronan and proteoglycans in human osteoarthritic cartilage, Belgian researchers report. This class of drugs -- unlike most NSAIDs -- may therefore improve osteoarthritis.
Senior investigator Dr. Daniel-Henri Manicourt told Reuters Health that the finding that celecoxib “enhanced the rate of synthesis of both hyaluronan and proteoglycans, and concomitantly reduced the net loss of these two glycosaminoglycans might have important implications for the therapeutic approach to patients suffering from osteoarthritis.”
Dr. Manicourt and colleagues at the Catholic University of Louvain note in the November issue of the Journal of Rheumatology that there is some evidence that certain moderately selective COX-2 inhibitors may inhibit the synthesis of cartilage proteoglycans.
Proteoglycans, along with hyaluronan, are required to provide cartilage with its elasticity and stiffness on compression. These entities are depleted in osteoarthritis and other conditions.
To assess the possible effects of celecoxib, the researchers exposed prepared osteoarthritic cartilage specimens to both diclofenac, a non-selective COX inhibitor, and to celecoxib.
Diclofenac did not affect the metabolic balance of hyaluronan and proteoglycans. However, in a “relatively dose-dependent” manner celecoxib increased their synthesis. Celecoxib also reduced the loss of labeled molecules of these agents from cartilage explants.
Thus, “in contrast to several other nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs,” Dr. Manicourt said, “celecoxib might be beneficial to osteoarthritic joints by enhancing the cartilage content of both hyaluronan and proteoglycans.”
Source: J Rheumatol 2003;30:2444-2451. [ Google search on this article ]
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