BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NON-STEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUGS IN RATS

Abstract

Inflammation is a normal, protective response to tissue injury caused by physical trauma, noxious chemicals, or microbiologic agents. However, inflammation is sometimes inappropriately triggered by an innocuous agent, such as pollen, or by an autoimmune response, as in asthma or rheumatoid arthritis. In such cases, the defense reactions themselves may cause progressive tissue injury and anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs may be required to modulate the inflammatory process (Mycek et al., 2000). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a group of chemically dissimilar agents

that differ in their antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities and they act primarily by inhibiting the cyclooxygenase enzymes (Brooks and Day, 2000). There are two forms of cyclooxygenase, termed cyclooxygenase-1 (Cox-l) and cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2). The first one is a constitutive isoform found in almost all tissues, blood vessels, stomach and kidney, while Cox-2 is induced in settings of inflammation by cytokines and inflammatory mediators (Jackson and Hawkey, 2000). NSAIDs have been prescribed extensively thr ughout the world (Thabet et al., 2002). The most commonly ingested NSAIDs have few toxic effects even when taken in significant

quantities (Ellenboro. 1997). Rostom et al (2005) reported that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs might cause hepatic side effects, but the frequency of these laboratory and clinical side effects is uncertain. The most tenable hypothesis to explain the anti-inflammatory action ofNSAIDs is that they exert their effects through inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis may account for certain toxicities that are common to certain NSAIDs (Montini et al., 2000).

Rofecoxib (Rhuma-cure) is a member of a newest class of NSAIDs that exhibits anti­

inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities in animal models (Colburn and Flores, 2000).