Colonic delivery of celecoxib is a potential pharmaceutical strategy for repositioning the selective COX-2 inhibitor as an anti-colitic agent.

Celecoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor applied to the treatment of arthritis. Repositioning the anti-inflammatory drug as an anti-inflammatory bowel disease drug has obstacles such as controversial anti-colitic efficacy and potential side effects. We examined whether colonic delivery of celecoxib could circumvent the therapeutic limitations. N-succinylglutam-1-yl celecoxib (SG1C), a colon-specific prodrug of celecoxib), was administered orally to rats with colitis and the anti-inflammatory activity and pharmacologic mechanisms were investigated. SG1C alleviated the colonic injury and lowered myeloperoxidase activity in the inflamed colonic tissues much more effectively than conventional celecoxib. While suppressing expression of pro-inflammatory nuclear factor kappaB gene products including cyclooxygenase-2, SG1C elevated an anti-inflammatory nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45 (NF-E2)-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and its target gene product heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in the inflamed colon. In contrast, no significant molecular effects were observed with conventional celecoxib. Unlike conventional celecoxib, SG1C did not lower the serum level of 6-keto-PGF1α, an inverse indicator of cardiovascular adverse effects. Collectively, colonic delivery of celecoxib, likely improving therapeutic and toxicological properties of celecoxib, may be a feasible pharmaceutical strategy to therapeutically switch celecoxib to an anti-colitic drug.