Novel non-arachidonate-mediated, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents

Abstract
Although corticosteroids are potent anti-inflammatory agents, they produce numerous serious side effects which prevent them from being widely used in the clinics. The classic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIA) are arachidonate-mediated compounds which are less potent than steroids but which have similar side effects. Therefore, major efforts have been made to search for a novel class of NSAIA. Recent advancement in cytokine research reveals that tumour necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and particularly interleukin-1 (IL-1), are responsible for most inflammation symptoms. Further, various inflammatory diseases can be treated by the administration of IL-1 receptor antagonists (IL-1ra). Unfortunately, IL-1ra is a polypeptide which is very unstable in the body and requires continuous infusion for hours to be effective as an anti-inflammatory drug. Obviously, a stable, long-acting IL-1 blocker which can be administered orally would be the ideal one to be used in the clinics. Active resear...

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