2000 - 01

Br J Pharmacol. 2000 Jan;129(2):343-50.

A comparison of the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activity of nitroaspirin and aspirin.

al-Swayeh OA, Clifford RH, del Soldato P, Moore PK. Department of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1. Nitroaspirin (2.5 - 50 mg kg(-1), i.p. or 2.5 - 100 mg kg(-1), p.o.) and aspirin (2.5 - 100 mg kg(-1), i.p. or p.o.) exhibit anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan-induced hindpaw oedema model in the rat. When administered i.p., nitroaspirin was a more effective anti-oedema agent than aspirin particularly in the 'early' phase (i.e. up to 60 min) of the response. The ED(50) values for nitroaspirin and aspirin as inhibitors of the 'late' phase response (measured at 180 min) were 64.3 micromol kg(-1) and >555 micromol kg(-1), respectively. When administered p.o., neither nitroaspirin nor aspirin exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity in the 'early' phase and were of similar potency in the 'late' phase. Thus, at the highest dose used (100 mg kg(-1), 360 min) orally administered nitroaspirin (aspirin in parenthesis) inhibited oedema formation by 46.9+/-1.6% (47.2+/-3.8%, both n=6, P<0.05).>200 mg kg(-1), p.o.) reduced the 'late' phase (but not the 'early' phase) of the formalin-induced hindpaw licking assay in the mouse. Similarly, nitroaspirin and aspirin (>50 mg kg(-1), p.o.) prolonged tail withdrawal latency following application of a noxious heat stimulus in the mouse.