Unexpected side effects of common painkillers
New Haven [US], June 1: According to a new study, common painkillers can have unexpected and unexplained impacts on numerous conditions, including heart disease and cancer, even at equal doses.
The findings of the research were published in the journal 'Immunity'.
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Yale-led study has uncovered a previously unknown process by which some NSAIDs affect the body. The finding may explain why similar NSAIDs produce a range of clinical outcomes and could inform how the drugs are used in the future.
The anti-inflammatory effects of NSAIDs were believed to arise solely through the inhibition of certain enzymes. But this mechanism does not account for many clinical outcomes that vary across the family of drugs. For example, some NSAIDs prevent heart disease while others cause it, some NSAIDs have been linked to decreased incidence of colorectal cancer, and various NSAIDs can have a wide range of effects on asthma.
Now, using cell cultures and mice, Yale researchers have uncovered a distinct mechanism by which a subset of NSAIDs reduce inflammation. And that mechanism may help explain some of these curious effects.
The research showed that only some NSAIDs -- including indomethacin, which is used to treat arthritis and gout, and ibuprofen -- also activate a protein called nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, or NRF2, which, among its many actions, triggers anti-inflammatory processes in the body.
An instructor at the Yale School of Medicine, Anna Eisenstein said that, "It's interesting and exciting that NSAIDs have a different mode of action than what was known previously."
"And because people use NSAIDs so frequently, it's important we know what they're doing in the body, " she added.
This discovery still needs to be confirmed in humans, the researchers note. But if it is, the findings could have an impact on how inflammation is treated and how NSAIDs are used.
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NRF2 controls a large number of genes involved in a wide range of processes, including metabolism, immune response, and inflammation. And the protein has been implicated in ageing, longevity, and cellular stress reduction.
-PTC News
