Etodolac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It was patented in 1971 and approved for medical use in 1985. It was approved in the U.S. in 1991. Medical uses
NSAIDs are used for the management of mild to moderate pain, fever, and inflammation. They work by reducing the levels of prostaglandins, which are chemicals that are responsible for pain and the fever and tenderness that occur with inflammation. Etodolac blocks the cyclooxygenase (abbrev. COX) enzymes which form prostanoids, resulting in lower concentrations of prostaglandins. As a consequence, inflammation, pain and fever are reduced. Post-marketing studies demonstrated that etodolac inhibition of cyclooxygenase is somewhat COX-2 selective  similar to celecoxib and other "COX-2 inhibitors." Unlike rofecoxib, both etodolac and celecoxib can fully inhibit COX-1 and are designated as having "preferential selectivity" toward COX-2. The R-enantiomer of etodolac is inactive against COX enzymes, but inhibits beta-catenin levels in hepatoma cells.In the UK, Etodolac is licensed for the treatment of inflammation and pain caused by osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Interactions
Etodolac should be avoided by patients with a history of asthma attacks, hives, or other allergic reactions to aspirin or other NSAIDs. Rare but severe allergic reactions have been reported in such individuals. It also should be avoided by patients with peptic ulcer disease or poor kidney function, since this medication can worsen both conditions. Etodolac is used with caution in patients taking blood thinning medications (anticoagulants), such as warfarin (Coumadin), because it increases the risk of bleeding. Patients taking both lithium and etodolac may develop toxic blood lithium levels.
Periodic fever syndromes  are a set of disorders characterized by recurrent episodes of systemic and organ-specific inflammation. Unlike autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, in which the disease is caused by abnormalities of the adaptive immune system, people with autoinflammatory diseases do not produce autoantibodies or antigen-specific T or B cells. Instead, the autoinflammatory diseases are characterized by errors in the innate immune system.The syndromes are diverse, but tend to cause episodes of fever, joint pains, skin rashes, abdominal pains and may lead to chronic complications such as amyloidosis.Most autoinflammatory diseases are genetic and present during childhood. The most common genetic autoinflammatory syndrome is familial Mediterranean fever, which causes short episodes of fever, abdominal pain, serositis, lasting less than 72 hours. It is caused by mutations in the MEFV gene, which codes for the protein pyrin.Pyrin is a protein normally present in the inflammasome. The mutated pyrin protein is thought to cause inappropriate activation of the inflammasome, leading to release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β. Most other autoinflammatory diseases also cause disease by inappropriate release of IL-1β. Thus, IL-1β has become a common therapeutic target, and medications such as anakinra, rilonacept, and canakinumab have revolutionized the treatment of autoinflammatory diseases.However, there are some autoinflammatory diseases that are not known to have a clear genetic cause. This includes PFAPA, which is the most common autoinflammatory disease seen in children, characterized by episodes of fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis.