Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 151, No. 4, Apr 1995, 1218-1227.
Paradoxic effect of ibuprofen on neutrophil accumulation in pulmonary and cutaneous inflammation
PG Hellewell, SK Young, PM Henson and GS Worthen
Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Denver, Colorado.
Evidence exists to suggest that the local accumulation of neutrophils in
pulmonary inflammation occurs by a different mechanism than in other
microvascular beds. In the present study, this suggestion was investigated
using the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug ibuprofen. This drug was used
because in addition to inhibiting cyclooxygenase, it prevents several
aspects of neutrophil function, including adhesion. Local inflammation in
the lung and skin of the same rabbits was induced by the administration of
C5a, and the effect of intravenous injection of ibuprofen on the
accumulation of neutrophils at these two sites was examined. In the skin,
neutrophil accumulation was inhibited by ibuprofen, and this appeared to be
independent of cyclooxygenase blockade. A possible mechanism was prevention
of neutrophil adherence to endothelium in postcapillary venules, and in
vitro experiments showed that ibuprofen could entirely prevent neutrophil
adherence, in addition to suppressing azurophil granule secretion and
superoxide anion generation. However, the effect on adherence appeared to
be independent of expression of the CD11/CD18 adhesion complex on the
neutrophil. By contrast, in the pulmonary circulation of the same rabbit,
C5a-induced neutrophil accumulation was enhanced by ibuprofen treatment.
This was suggested to result from the prevention of thromboxane production,
which normally serves to decrease local pulmonary blood flow to diminish
delivery of neutrophils to the inflammatory site. Ibuprofen had no effect
on retention of neutrophils in filters (models of pulmonary capillaries),
suggesting that the drug was not enhancing the retention of neutrophils in
capillaries on the first pass through the lung. Thus, it was possible that
enhancement in the lung was caused by an increase in neutrophil supply.
Because the accumulation of neutrophils in the skin is known to be
dependent on the adherence phenomena, the paradoxic effects of ibuprofen on
inflammation suggest that mechanisms responsible for the accumulation of
neutrophils in cutaneous and pulmonary microcirculations are different.