Anti-inflammatory drugs and intermediary metabolism

Abstract

The effects of Butazolidin (phenyl-butazone), chloroquine diphosphate, cortisol and dexamethasone on the incorporation of C14 from labelled substrates into the soluble intermediates of chopped preparations of rat liver and brain have been studied. All the drugs increased the total incorporation of radioactivity from [C14] glucose in brain and decreased the total incorporation of the isotope from [2-C14]acetate in liver and brain. The total incorporation of C14 from [C14]glucose and [3-C14]-pyruvate in liver was not materially altered by the presence of thedrugs. The distribution of C14 from [C14]glucose in the soluble intermediates of liver was affected by all the drugs. The main changes were a greatly reduced incorporation of the isotope into alanine and an increased accumulation of radioactivity in maltose, phosphoglycerate, glycerate, glutamate and lactate. None of the drugs affected the distribution of C14 from [Cl4]glucose in brain, from [3-C14]-pyruvate in liver or from [2-C14]-pyruvate in liver or from [2-C14]acetate in both liver and brain. Some implications of these results are discussed.