A Flavonoid Mixture, Dual Inhibitor of Cyclooxygenase and 5-Lipoxygenase Enzymes, Shows Superiority to Glucosamine/ Chondroitin for Pain Management in Moderate Osteoarthritic Dogs

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multi-factorial disease with a large metabolic component involving the accumulation of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites that contribute to joint deterioration. Laboratory studies have shown that specific flavonoid mixtures, com¬posed of baicalin and catechin, act to inhibit cyclooxgenase-1 (COX-1) and COX-2 in a balanced manner with additional 5-lipoxyge- nase (5-LOX) inhibitory activity. The safety and efficacy of the flavonoid formulation, FlexileRx™, however, is not known in dogs. Enzyme inhibition results for COX-1, COX- 2, and 5-LOX demonstrate that, compared to celecoxib, meloxicam, naproxen, ibupro- fen, carprofen, and aspirin, only FlexileRx has balanced COX and additional 5-LOX enzyme inhibition activity. In a multi-site, double-blind, randomized, direct-comparator trial in dogs weighing at least 15 lbs, Flexil- eRx (n=33) showed statistically significant improvement in pain scores over the com¬bination formulation of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine hydrochloride, and manganese ascorbate (n=36) (Cosequin®DS) using veterinarian and owner visual analog scale (VAS) assessments. At both the interim (28 days) and final analysis (56 days), Flexil- eRx was more than twice as effective as CosequinDS at relieving pain. Adverse events were generally mild in both groups. This study demonstrates that FlexileRx is a relatively fast-acting therapy for reduction of pain scores in dogs with OA.