Source: DGNews  |  Posted 9 years ago

By Ed Susman

NEW YORK, NY -- May 20, 2003 -- Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may find themselves gaining weight and their blood pressure (BP) increasing, if they are treating their pain with cyclooxygenase-2 specific (COX-2) inhibitors, a new study demonstrates.

Due to recent reports that rofecoxib may have more clinically important renal side effects than celecoxib and non-specific NSAIDs, doctors looked at renal side effects in 2595 patients who participated in a long-term outcomes study of RA, and who consequently were continuing long-term treatment with celecoxib and rofecoxib, as well as with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs naproxen, ibuprofen, and acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).

Scott Goldfarb, PharmD, a researcher with Pfizer, Inc., Atlanta, Ga, presented the findings in a poster session here on May 17th at the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension.

The study was led by Frederick Wolfe, MD, of the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases at the Arthritis Research Center Foundation and clinical professor of internal medicine and family and community medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kan.

Among the study's participants, 822 were being treated with celecoxib; 448 with rofecoxib; 276 with naproxen; 226 with ibuprofen; 176 with aspirin; and 647 with other non-specific NSAIDs. The average age was 62 years, and 70% were women, reflecting the prevalence of RA. On average, patients had the disease for 15 years.

Dr. Goldfarb reported that there was a 33% increased risk of unintentional weight gain among rofecoxib users, but no such gain among celecoxib or NSAID users (P<0.05). A 78% increased risk of increased blood pressure was also observed (P<0.001).

This study was supported by Pfizer Inc., and by Pharmacia Corp., Peapack, NJ.

[Study title: Patient Burden of Weight Gain and Blood Pressure Increase Among RA Patients Using Celecoxib, Rofecoxib, and Non-Specific NSAIDs. Abstract P-448]