Effect of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, tolmetin sodium on exudative inflammation in experimental animals (author's transl)

Effect of tolmetin sodium(Tol) on acute and subacute exudative inflammation was tested in experimental animals. Tol had a potent inhibitory activity (ED50 = 0.75 mg/kg, p.o.) on the increased vascular permeability induced by acetic acid in mice, and the potency was about 0.4 times that of indomethacin (Ind), and 6-93 times that of ibuprofen (Ibu), phenylbutazone(Phe) and aspirin(Asp). The inhibitory activity of Tol(ED50 = 18.2 mg/kg, p.o.) on UV-induced erythema in guinea pigs was about 0.3 times that of Ind. A recovery of the hind paw edema of rats, produced by a mixture of kaolin and carrageenin, was promoted by oral administration of Tol(2.5 approximately 20 mg/kg x 5/2 days). Tol(80 mg/kg/day, p.o.) showed a significant activity in inhibiting the exudation caused by croton oil in rats, and the activity was about 0.025 times that of Ind and greater than that of Ibu, Phe and Asp. Tol(100-800 microgram/ml) inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the phytohemagglutinin-induced blast transformation of cultured lymphocytes from rat thymus, as did salicylic acid. In vitro, Tol showed a potent activity similar to that of Ibu and Phe in preventing the denaturation of bovine serum albumin and the lysis of rat erythrocytes. From these results, it is suggested that Tol has a particularly potent inhibitory activity on acute exudative inflammation, and the mode of action may be attributed to a mechanism similar to that seen with other acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.