Cox-2 Inhibitors Linked to Increased Blood Pressure, Study Finds

A new study of several clinical research trials involving Cox-2 inhibitors suggests the drugs increase blood pressure more than conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

The research also found that Vioxx might confer a greater risk of high blood pressure and hypertension in patients than rival Celebrex.

The findings were published by The Archives of Internal Medicine, which is part of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The authors of the study, from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, determined that Cox-2 inhibitors like Vioxx (rofecoxib) and Celebrex (celecoxib) are associated with higher hypertension risk compared with traditional NSAIDs or a placebo. The team based its conclusions on a meta-analysis of 19 randomized, controlled clinical trials published before May 2004, involving 45,451 patients for whom blood pressure data were available.

The analysis showed that patients taking Cox-2s experienced a 61 percent greater risk of increased blood pressure when compared to those taking a placebo, and a 25 percent greater risk compared to patients taking traditional NSAIDs.

The authors concluded that Celebrex posed less of a risk to patients than Vioxx because the former has a shorter half-life. Vioxx also appears to correlate with a greater risk of developing hypertension and clinically important elevations in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with Celebrex, the authors wrote.

To view the study, go to http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/165.5.IOI50013v1 (http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/165.5.IOI50013v1).