Action of rare earth metal complexes on neurogenic as well as on bradykinin-induced inflammation

Abstract

Both neurogenically evoked inflammation and that induced by bradykinin are not satisfactorily inhibited by the usual anti-inflammatory agents. It has been found that anticoagulant rare earth metal compounds inhibit these types of inflammation. In rats, neurogenic inflammation induced either by antidromic electrical stimulation of the saphenous nerve, or by orthodromic stimulation of sensory nerve endings with capsaicin could almost totally be prevented by a neodymium complex of pyrocatechol sodium disulphonate. In rats and rabbits a dose-dependent inhibition of the permeability increase was observed at the site of the injection of bradykinin, kallikrein or bothrops venom. Similarly, there was marked inhibition of “thermic oedema.” The results are in accord with the hypothesis that the blood clotting system plays an important role in the mechanism of inflammation.