Info for Celebrex Users
Heart aflutter over Celebrex?
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By Denise Lynn Mann
Ever since Vioxx and Bextra were removed abruptly from the market because of concerns they increased the risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers have been looking to confirm the safety of celecoxib (Celebrex), the one remaining drug in the cox-2 class of anti-inflammatory drugs.
Now, a small study has found a theoretical association between celecoxib and a different heart woe: arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats. Lead study author Satpal Singh, PhD, an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in New York, says it’s too soon to worry if you take celecoxib, but talk to your doctor if you have questions. To learn more, AT spoke to Singh:
How did you make this discovery?
“We wanted to find a model for use in further studies of COX-2 drugs. We tried it in fruit flies and found it did have an effect, but it was entirely different from what was seen in the Vioxx studies, which showed Vioxx made people more prone to blood clots.”
How might taking celecoxib cause an arrhythmia?
“Celecoxib inhibited the normal passage of potassium ions into and out of heart cells. Too much or too little potassium causes the heart to beat too slow or too fast, and may be life-threatening.”
How can you be sure that this same phenomenon could occur theoretically in people?
“It would be premature to make a claim that it could. We can say that in the human cell line we studied, the potassium channels also are affected. This gives us a strong reason to explore further whether it affects humans.”
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry; Vol. 283, No. 3
