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News Release

January 24, 2005

Embargoed until Monday, January 24, 4 p.m. EST

Contact: Jane Shaskan, 860-679-4777
e-mail: shaskan@nso.uchc.edu

More on COX-2 Inhibitors

Patients Need Careful Blood Pressure Monitoring

FARMINGTON, CONN. – Careful monitoring and control of blood pressure are key when NSAIDS or COX-2 inhibitors are used for osteoarthritis management for patients with hypertension and type 2-diabetes, according to a study published in the January 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The Celecoxib Rofecoxib Efficacy and Safety in Comorbodities Evaluation Trial, or Crescent, evaluated the effects of the COX-2 inhibitors and naproxen on 24-hour blood pressure reading in patients with type-2 diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive 200 mg of celecoxib or 25 mg of rofecoxib once daily or 500 mg of naproxen twice daily for 12 weeks. Sixty-five centers from seven countries participated in the one-year trial. Patent evaluations were conducted at the start of the study with follow-ups at one-, two-, six- and 12-week intervals.

In all treatment groups, osteoarthritis symptoms, including pain, mobility and stiffness, were reduced, according to senior author William W. White, M.D., head of the Division of Hypertension in the Department of Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center. However, he said, the average 24-hour systolic blood pressure following six weeks of treatment was increased significantly by rofecoxib, but not by celecoxib or naproxen.

“The results of this study suggest the need for careful monitoring and control of blood pressure when COX-2-specific inhibitors and nonspecific nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed to patients with hypertension and type-2 diabetes,” said Dr. White. “Careful evaluation of currently available, as well as future drugs of this type, is also needed.”

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