Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 May 22:18:1711-1725.
doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S464485. eCollection 2024.

Imrecoxib: Advances in Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Yan-Hong Wang #  1 , Ling-Ling Zhu #  2 , Tian-Lang Li  3 , Quan Zhou  1
Affiliations
Review

Imrecoxib: Advances in Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Yan-Hong Wang et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. .

Abstract

Imrecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), was discovered via the balanced inhibition strategy of COX-1/COX-2. It is indicated for the relief of painful symptoms of osteoarthritis. There have been some pharmacological and therapeutic advances since the approval of imrecoxib in 2011. However, an update review in this aspect is not yet available. Relevant literature until January 2024 was identified by search of PubMed, Web of science, Embase and CNKI. From the perspective of efficacy, imrecoxib provides relief of osteoarthritis symptoms, and potential off-label use for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, perioperative pain, hand-foot syndrome, axial spondyloarthritis, COVID-19, cartilage injury, and malignancies such as lung and colon cancer. From a safety point of view, imrecoxib showed adverse effects common to NSAIDs; however, it has lower incidence of new-onset hypertension than other types of selective COX-2 inhibitors, less gastrointestinal toxicities than non-selective NSAIDs, weaker risk of drug interaction than celecoxib, and more suitable for elderly patients due to balanced inhibition of COX-1/COX-2. From a pharmacoeconomic perspective, imrecoxib is more cost-effective than celecoxib and diclofenac for osteoarthritis patients. With the deepening of the disease pathophysiology study of osteoarthritis, new therapeutic schemes and pharmacological mechanisms are constantly discovered. In the field of osteoarthritis treatment, mechanisms other than the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of COX-2 inhibitors are also being explored. Taken together, imrecoxib is a moderate selective COX-2 inhibitor with some advantages, and there would be more clinical applications and research opportunities in the future.

Keywords: cyclooxygenase-2; efficacy; imrecoxib; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; older adults; osteoarthritis; safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing selection of literature.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of COX-2 inhibitors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mahesh G, Anil Kumar K, Reddanna P. Overview on the discovery and development of anti-inflammatory drugs: should the focus be on synthesis or degradation of PGE2? J Inflamm Res. 2021;14:253–263. doi:10.2147/JIR.S278514 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guo ZR. 郭宗儒.国家1类新药艾瑞昔布的研制 [Discovery of imrecoxib]. Chin J New Drugs. 2012;21(3):223–230. Chinese.
    1. Mei Q, Liu Z, Zuo H, Yang Z, Qu J. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: an update on pathogenesis. Front Pharmacol. 2022;12:797292. doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.797292 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miao Y, Yang Y, Li X, et al. Imrecoxib attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Heliyon. 2023;9(11):e20914. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20914 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jin H. Imrecoxib inhibits paraquat-induced pulmonary fibrosis through the NF-κB/Snail signaling pathway. Comput Math Methods Med. 2020;2020:6374014. doi:10.1155/2020/6374014 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances