Flavocoxid (Limbrel ®) manages osteoarthritis through modification of multiple inflammatory pathways: a review | Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer Open Menu Functional Foods in Health and Disease - Online ISSN: 2160-3855; Print ISSN: 2378-7007 Home Food Science Publisher Functional Food Center Current Archives About About the Journal Aims and Scope Contact Editing Services Editorial Team Express Peer Review Graphical Abstract Journal Insights Privacy Statement Submissions Announcements Search Search Register Login Home / Archives / Vol. 2 No. 11 (2012): November 2012 / Review Articles Flavocoxid (Limbrel ®) manages osteoarthritis through modification of multiple inflammatory pathways: a review Authors Bruce P. Burnett Primus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 4725 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 200, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Robert M. Levy Primus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 4725 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 200, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v2i11.74 Abstract Limbrel (flavocoxid) is marketed as an FDA-regulated medical food for the clinical dietary management of osteoarthritis (OA) to be used under physician supervision. Flavocoxid is composed of a >90% mixture of baicalin and catechin and represents a non-targeted anti-inflammatory which works differently than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that bind to and only inhibit the cyclooxygenase moieties of COX-1 and COX-2. Flavocoxid binds to and weakly modulates the peroxidase activity of the COX enzymes permitting low level expression of prostaglandins (PGs), prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane (TxA2). In addition, flavocoxid weakly inhibits phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) as well as increases IϰBα and prevents nuclear factor kappa B (NFϰB) activation/induction of inflammatory genes such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), interleukin-1β (IL-1 β), IL-6, COX-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and 5-LOX. In clinical studies, flavocoxid shows equivalent efficacy to naproxen with statistically fewer renal (edema) and upper gastrointestinal (GI) side effects, does not affect platelet function and bleeding times, does not change international normalized ratio (INR) in warfarinized patients, is well-tolerated in patients with previous NSAID-induced GI side effects, and decreases or eliminates the use of gastroprotective medications in patients who previously required them to tolerate NSAIDs. With its broad, non-targeted and multiple weak activities which result in fewer side effects compared to NSAIDs, flavocoxid represents a different way managing OA by working on the underlying and multiple causes of cartilage degradation as well as joint inflammation.    Keywords: Flavocoxid, Limbrel, osteoarthritis, inflammatory pathways, and medical foods Downloads [Abstract] [Full Article] Published 2012-11-03 Issue Vol. 2 No. 11 (2012): November 2012 Section Review Articles License Authors retain the copyright of their articles and grant the Functional Food Center (FFC) and its journals the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, including commercial use, provided the original author(s) and source are properly credited. Authors may post and share their published work freely, provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged. By submitting to this journal, authors confirm that their manuscripts are original, not under consideration elsewhere, and that they hold the necessary rights to grant this license. The Functional Food Center encourages open scientific exchange and allows derivative and extended works, provided attribution to the original publication is maintained. About the Journal      Editing Services      Graphical Abstract      Journal Insights        Submissions        Editorial Team       Privacy Statement        Contact        Current        Archives   Open Journal Systems Hosting and Support by: OpenJournalSystems.com