title: The clinical potential of cyclooxygenase-2-specific inhibitors.
abstract: Emerging evidence suggests that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has diverse physiologic and pathophysiologic functions. It is expressed constitutively in the developing kidney and brain, playing a role in their proper maturation and function. Further, COX-2 expression may be up-regulated at certain sites: in the kidney during sodium restriction; in the microglia of cognitive centers within the hippocampus and cortex in Alzheimer's disease; and in intestinal adenomas and colon tumors. On the basis of COX-2 expression in Alzheimer's disease and colon cancer, COX-2-specific inhibitors may find clinical utility in the prevention or treatment of these conditions. Despite this apparently optimistic outlook for future uses of COX-2 inhibitors, most of the findings supporting this perspective are based on in vitro and in vivo models and must be rigorously corroborated in human studies, some of which are already planned.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatic Diseases Division, Harold C. Simmons Arthritis Research Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 75235, USA.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Lipsky
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000187:drug effects*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases