A new screen for anti-inflammatory agents. Estimation of rat serum acute phase α2 levels using an electroimmunoassay

Abstract

Induction of α₂ acute phase protein in rats by the injection of turpentine revealed strain and sex differences in the amounts of this protein detected in sera by rocket immunoelectrophoresis. Studiesin vivo with a wide variety of drugs showed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as aspirin, indomethacin and BW 755C as well as colchicine, clofibrate and clozic, inhibited serum concentrations of the acute phase protein 48 h after turpentine injection. The procedure used offers a new and convenient screen for assessing NSAIDs and the method may be of value as a screen for new clozic-like compounds with anti-rheumatic activity. The possibility that the NSAIDs are inhibiting a humoral factor initiated by the inflammatory stimulus and that the humoral factor is a metabolite of arachidonic acid is discussed.