Aminosalicylates

Abstract

Aminosalicylates are the most common drugs for the primary treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Various pro-drugs and formulations were developed in order to improve pharmacological profiles, optimize bioavailability and to gain highest efficacy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease. In vitro studies have greatly contributed to the understanding of the molecular actions in vivo and clinical studies have proven aminosalicylates to be effective and safe. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the molecular, pharmacological and clinical properties of aminosalicylates with respect to chemoprevention for UC-associated colorectal cancer.