Aspirin has been a commercial drug for over a century, although for most of this history, an
understanding of its mechanism of action, as an inhibitor of cyclooxygenase (COX) activity
and thus of prostanoid synthesis, was lacking. Over the past fifty years, a large number of
other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been developed, and a much
deeper understanding of inflammation and prostanoid action has emerged. Indeed, a new
class of selective inhibitors of the cyclooxygenase-2 isozyme was introduced, about ten …