The therapeutic efficacy of salicylate drugs for ulcerative colitis in vivo is related to the capacity of each drug to suppress fatty acid oxidation in colonocytes in vitro. The suppression index of fatty acid oxidation (SIFO) was assessed with 17 salicylate drugs of either known or unknown therapeutic efficacy. The high SIFO value of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) was reduced to zero when the amino group was replaced with a methyl, nitro, hydroxyl or bromine group. The SIFO of 3-ASA was dose-related and 2- to 3-fold greater than the SIFO of 5-ASA. The antioxidants methyl- or propyl-4-hydroxybenzoate have a high SIFO, but show a 'toxic' action towards colonocytes not observed with 3-ASA, 4-ASA or 5-ASA. A new cellular action proposed for 5-ASA is that acetylation of the amino group of 5-ASA in colonocytes releases free CoA countering sequestration of CoA observed in epithelial cells during active colitis.