Oxicams: relative safety and anti-injury effects in rats.

1 Oxicams have certain distinctive properties, which distinguish them from other arylalkanoic (carboxylic) acids that show anti-inflammatory/analgesic/antipyretic activities. These include: (i) slow rates of metabolism (ii) lesser gastro-irritancy/ulcerogenicity (iii) preventing fever development (iv) some effect on the adaptive responses of the liver to severe inflammation or trauma that compromise normal hormone/xenobiotic metabolism (detoxification). 2 Isoxicam was notably less gastrotoxic than either piroxicam or tenoxicam, when given either orally or parenterally, at equipotent doses in rats.