CHAPTER 16 - Anti-Inflammatory Agents

Abstract

This chapter discusses anti-inflammatory agents. For purposes of simplicity and clarity, the influence upon acute inflammation exerted by pharmacologic substances will be analyzed from a morphologic point of view. In some cases there is unavoidable overlap since certain agents are thought to be active at several stages of the inflammatory reactions. Because the structure of adrenal steroids is similar to that of the digitalis glycosides, it was suggested that their effect was chiefly limited to the surface membrane and perhaps influenced in large part by the flux of electrolytes across this barrier. A part of the steroid effect in suppressing inflammation may be caused by a stabilizing action on the membranes of the intracellular lysosomes. These tiny subcellular particles have been thought to represent depots or storage sites for various hydrolytic enzymes and their precursors. It may be possible that cortisol pre-treatment inhibits inflammation by delaying release or activation of these proteolytic agents. Another anti-inflammatory agent, chloroquine, has been found to stabilize the integrity of granules or lysosomes isolated from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes, thus suggesting the possibility of a common pathway for at least these two pharmacologic drugs.