Inhibition by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents of the release of rabbit aorta contracting substance and prostaglandins from chopped guinea-pig lungs.

Abstract

Abstract The release of prostaglandins (PGs) and rabbit aorta contracting substance (RCS) was investigated using mechanical agitation of chopped lung tissue from unsensitized guinea-pigs. Manual stirring of the lung tissue for 45 s produced maximal release of prostaglandins, a release corresponding to the effect of [20–40 ng ml−1 of PGE2 x 45 s at 5 ml min−1] about 100 ng PGE2 on the rat stomach strip. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents inhibited the release of the contracting substances. Indomethacin, the most potent, was active in concentrations of about 20 ng ml−1, whereas flufenamic acid was twice, phenylbutazone about 60 times, acetylsalicylic acid 100 times and sodium salicylate about 6000 times less active than indomethacin. The method could prove to be a simple test for screening nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents for inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis.