mobic and Abdominal-Pain

Whether intestinal toxicity of preferential or selective COX-2 inhibitors is reduced compared with that of standard NSAIDs is controversial. A 26-year-old woman presented with acute abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea a few days after beginning meloxicam treatment. Endoscopic examination of the colon showed erythematous and ulcerative lesions involving 15 cm of the left colon. No aetiology has been found for colitis. Diarrhea disappeared 1 week after meloxicam was stopped. Total colonoscopy 3 months and 2 years later was normal. The role of meloxicam in the etiology of colitis was considered plausible. This report and a few other cases in the literature suggest that cyclooxygenase-2 selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug inhibitor toxicity should be investigated in case of unexplained acute colitis.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Adult; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Colitis; Colonoscopy; Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; Female; Humans; Meloxicam; Nefopam; Thiazines; Thiazoles; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and oestoarthritis. It is practically insoluble in water, leading to poor dissolution, variations in bioavailability, and gastric irritation on oral administration. In the attempt to reduce its gastric side effect and to increase aqueous solubility, physical mixture and solid dispersion of the drug were prepared with polyethylene glycol 6000. The analgesic, antiinflammatory, and ulcerogenic effects were assessed for physical mixture and solid dispersion in comparison with meloxicam alone. The results indicate that both physical mixture and solid dispersion possess better analgesic and antiinflammatory properties with less ulcerogenic potential when compared with pure meloxicam.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Acetic Acid; Administration, Oral; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Carrageenan; Dosage Forms; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Compounding; Female; Gastric Mucosa; Hindlimb; Inflammation; Male; Meloxicam; Mice; Polyethylene Glycols; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Solubility; Stomach Ulcer; Thiazines; Thiazoles; Treatment Outcome

We have recently demonstrated dose-related analgesic-induced reductions in the occurrence of 7 behavioural activities following midline laparotomy in rats. For these behaviours to be useful in evaluating pain in laboratory rats they must be shown to occur after different types of surgery, and frequently enough to allow rapid scoring of animals. Here, the relevant behaviours were used to test the analgesic efficacy of meloxicam with a variation of our previous laparotomy model. As part of an unrelated project, 57 male Fischer rats were divided into groups to receive either saline (0.2 ml/100g s.c.), meloxicam (0.5, 1 or 2 mg/kg s.c.) or carprofen (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg s.c.) 1h before surgery. Behaviour data were collected for 10 min following 25 min of recovery from isoflurane anaesthesia. The cumulative frequencies of back arching, fall/stagger, writhe and poor gait were used to compute a composite behaviour score. Irrespective of whether analyses included only 5 or all 10 min of the observation period, the relevant behaviours occurred significantly more often in rats given saline or low dose meloxicam than in those given 1 or 2 mg/kg of meloxicam, or any dose of carprofen. We conclude that this technique of quantifying post-surgery behaviour is an effective pain scoring method following abdominal surgery in rats, and that 1 mg/kg meloxicam significantly attenuates laparotomy induced pain. Since only a short observation period is required, this approach represents an important practical advance in assessing abdominal pain severity and clinical drug potency.

Topics: Abdominal Pain; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Behavior, Animal; Body Weight; Carbazoles; Disease Models, Animal; Exploratory Behavior; Male; Meloxicam; Motor Activity; Pain Measurement; Pain, Postoperative; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Thiazines; Thiazoles; Time Factors