COX 2 inhibitors can affect the stomach lining

A new class of analgesics designed to be less ulcerogenic than traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may not protect the gastric lining after all, according to a University of California study (Nature Medicine 1999;5:1415-23, 1348-9).

Their ulcerogenic effect may stem from their antiangiogenic properties, and as such they may be useful anticancer drugs.

The analgesics, agents known as selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitors, were specifically designed to be less harmful to the gastric mucosal …