Rationale. The cannabinoid system consists of a complex array of receptors, substances with agonist/antagonist properties for those receptors, biosynthetic machineries and mechanisms for cellular uptake and degradation for endocannabinoids. This system is in interrelation with other systems that comprise lipid mediators like prostaglandins/leukotrienes systems. A clear antagonist, additive or synergic effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-cannabinoid associations was not yet demonstrated. Aim. The present study tried to summarize the existent data on NSAIDS-cannabinoid system interactions. Methods and results. A bibliographic research in Medline, Scirus, Embase was made using as keywords cannabinoid, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin, ibuprofen, flurbiprofen, diclofenac, indomethacin, acetaminophen, coxibs, antinociceptive, antinociception, analgesia....

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit colorectal carcinogenesis and prevent or revert the growth of premalignant colonic polyps. They inhibit cyclooxygenase (COX) but recent data indicate that this is not the only or even the most important mechanism of inhibition in colorectal tumor cells. We have used colonic carcinoma and adenoma cell lines to study the effects of the NSAID sulindac sulfide, its COX-inactive metabolite, sulindac sulfone, and the isoenzyme-specific inhibitors SC58125, SC236 and SC58560 on tumor cell growth in relation to COX-2 expression and prostaglandin production. To establish the role of COX-2 in NSAID action, we constructed clones expressing different levels of COX-2 from...