SOME ASPECTS OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTION OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS

Abstract

Two phase rat paw inflammation was induced by injection of carrageenan into the paw of rats inoculated with adjuvant (adjuvant-carrageenan-induced inflammation, ACII). The model was utilized to analyze the anti-inflammatory action of immunosuppressive drugs. Immunosuppressive drugs intensively inhibited the prolonged phase of ACII, which is considered to occur through the same mechanism as that of adjuvant arthritis. The inhibition was not attributed to immunosuppressive effects nor simple anti-inflammatory effects of the drugs. Immunosuppressive drugs appear to suppress certain biologic activities of lymphoid cells which act as a trigger to induce the prolonged phase.