Swertia chirayita, a medicinal herb inhabiting the challenging terrains and high altitudes of the Himalayas, is a rich source of essential phytochemical isolates. Amarogentin, a bitter secoiridoid glycoside from S. chirayita, shows varied activity in several patho-physiological conditions, predominantly in leishmaniasis and carcinogenesis. Experimental analysis has revealed that amarogentin dow...

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce gastrointestinal ulceration as the adverse reaction. This effect of NSAIDs is attributable to endogenous prostaglandin (PG) deficiency caused by inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), yet the relation between COX inhibition and the gastrointestinal ulcerogenic property of NSAIDs remains controversial. Using selective COX inhibitors, we examined ...

The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most often prescribed drugs in the world. This heterogeneous class of drugs includes aspirin and several other selective or non-selective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors. The non-selective NSAIDs are the oldest ones and are called traditional or conventional NSAIDs. The selective NSAIDs are called COX-2 inhibitors. In recent years,...

OBJECTIVES To examine the risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter associated with use of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or selective cyclo-oxygenase (COX) 2 inhibitors. DESIGN Population based case-control study using data from medical databases. SETTING Northern Denmark (population 1.7 million). PARTICIPANTS 32 602 patients with a first inpatient or outpatien...

BACKGROUND Postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions are common complications after abdominal surgery. The exact molecular mechanisms that are responsible for these complications remain unclear, and there are no effective methods for preventing adhesion formation or reformation. The aim of the study reported here was to investigate the preventive effects and underlying potential molecular mechani...

Selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors are expected to cause fewer gastric side effects because of sparing of COX-1-dependent prostaglandin (PG) synthesis in the gastric mucosa. However, the possible contribution of COX-2 to overall gastric PG biosynthesis is not known. This study demonstrates constitutive expression of COX-2 mRNA and protein in apparently healthy human and rabbit gastric ...

Nonselective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors are potent tocolytic agents; however, they also have adverse fetal effects such as constriction of the fetal ductus arteriosus. Recently, selective COX-2 inhibitors have been used in the management of preterm labor in the hope of avoiding fetal complications. However, both COX-1 and -2 are expressed by cells of the ductus arteriosus. We used fetal la...

Recent evidence suggests a lower risk of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage for selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitors compared with non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) at the patient level, although COX 2 inhibitors are likely not devoid of gastrointestinal toxicity. At the population level, however, the widespread proliferation of COX 2 inhibitors might lead to...

Treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) diminishes inflammation along with mediators of cartilage destruction. However, NSAIDs may exert adverse direct effects on cartilage, particularly if treatment is prolonged. We therefore compared the direct effects of indomethacin, naproxen, aceclofenac and celecoxib on matrix turnover in human OA cartilage tiss...