Peter Frederick Juby

Chapter 18. Non-steroidal Antiinflammatory Agents

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the research in the area of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents (NAA) with an emphasis on work relating to the chronic arthritic diseases. There have been few notable developments in the past in in vivo methods used to screen for and evaluate NAA. Increasing reliance is being placed upon the adjuvant-induced arthritis assay in the rat because it is felt that the histochemistry and pathology of this autoimmune disease most closely resemble the histochemistry and pathology of some of the human arthritic diseases. An improved quantitative method that employs the dog has been reported in which the pressure exerted by the dog paw is measured after injection of an inflammatory agent into the corresponding knee joint. In another study, intrazole (BL-R743), aspirin, and phenylbutazone effectively inhibited rabbit platelet aggregation in both in vitro and in vivo screens. Aspirin and other NAA inhibited human blood platelet aggregation. In all these cases, the compounds were considered to work by inhibiting the release mechanism.