According to Canadian and American researchers they have identified one reason why drugs like Celebrex and Vioxx - once popular for the treatment of pain and inflammation - cause heart problems.
Researchers at Queen's University and the University of Pennsylvania say their findings offer the prospect of a new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs that will bypass this issue.
Colin Funk, a professor of Biochemistry and Physiology at Queen's, and Canada Research Chair in Molecular, Cellular and Physiological Medicine and a co-author of the study, says although the results are in mice they raise an exciting possibility which can be tested in humans.
The link between selective inhibitors of COX-2 such as Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex with an increased incidence of heart attack and stroke, has created interest in understanding the mechanism involved.
The researchers say that clarification of this issue will offer the prospect of conserving the clinical benefit of such drugs for patients with arthritis, while managing the risk.
The investigators first compared genetically manipulated mice that mimic the impact of either COX-2 inhibitors or low-dose aspirin with healthy mice treated with or without COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex.
They say a small cardiovascular risk was seen with the COX-2 inhibitors but aspirin diminished the hazardous effects of the COX-2 inhibitors.