Platelets Not Disrupted By Celebrex

This article is part of the Arthritis Archives.

Dateline: February 20, 2000

Platelets Not Disrupted By Celebrex

Results from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study published in the February 2000 issue of Journal of Clinical Pharmacology revealed that the popular arthritis drug Celebrex (celecoxib) does not interfere with platelet function even at 1200 mg/day.

A dose of 1200 mg/day is actually 6 times the recommended daily dose of Celebrex prescribed for the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Why is this finding of maintaining normal platelet function so significant? It is significant for:

• Patients at risk for bleeding.
• Patients taking medications which increase the risk of bleeding.
• People with arthritis who take low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular disease prophylaxis.

About The Study

The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of very high doses of Celebrex to therapeutic doses of naproxen on platelets.

• Celebrex is a COX-2 selective inhibitor.
• Naproxen is a non-selective NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug).

Over a 10-day period, study participants were randomly given varying doses of either:

• Celebrex
• naproxen
• a placebo

Bleeding times were used to measure platelet function. In contrast to either Celebrex or placebo, naproxen proved to reduce platelet aggregation and increase bleeding times. The fact that Celebrex did not disrupt normal platelet aggregation is more confirmation of the COX-2 selectivity of the drug and of its safety.

Osteoarthritis And Cardiovascular Disease

Often osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease occur together in elderly people. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has estimated that 1 in 4 adults in the United States has hypertension and up to 1 in 3 people with hypertension also has arthritis.

Approximately 1 in 5 people over 35 years old take aspirin as a preventative measure against cardiovascular disease. The study results support Celebrex as a logical choice for people on the low-dose aspirin regimen.

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