According to the European Society of Cardiology, ibuprofen is associated with increased blood pressure and hypertension compared to celecoxib in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), both non-selective and selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, are among the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide, but are now linked with increased blood pressure and adverse cardiovascular events.
NSAID labels include warnings about potential increases in blood pressure but there is little data on the effects of individual drugs. Maintaining or achieving blood pressure control in patients with arthritis and concomitant hypertension could avoid more than 70,000 deaths from stroke and 60,000 deaths from coronary heart disease each year.
The study which found the results, PRECISION-ABPM, was a prospective, double blind, randomised, non-inferiority cardiovascular safety trial. It was conducted at 60 sites in the US and included 444 patients, of whom 408 (92%) had osteoarthritis and 36 (8%) had rheumatoid arthritis. All patients had evidence of, or were at increased risk for, coronary artery disease.
Patients were randomised in a 1:1:1 fashion to receive celecoxib (100–200mg twice a day), ibuprofen (600–800mg three times a day), or naproxen (375–500mg twice a day) with matching placebos.
Principal investigator Prof Frank Ruschitzka, professor of cardiology and co-head, Department of Cardiology, University Heart Centre, Zurich, Switzerland, said: “PRECISION-ABPM showed differential blood pressure effects between the different NSAIDs, ibuprofen and naproxen, and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib. While celecoxib and naproxen produced either a slight decrease (celecoxib) or a relatively small increase (naproxen) in blood pressure, ibuprofen was associated with a significant increase in ambulatory systolic blood pressure of more than 3mmHg.”
“Patients receiving ibuprofen had a 61% higher incidence of de novo hypertension compared to those receiving celecoxib,” Prof Ruschitzka continued.
These results support and extend the findings of the PRECISION trial, demonstrating non-inferiority for the primary cardiovascular outcomes for moderate doses of celecoxib compared with naproxen or ibuprofen.
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