The inhibitory effect of liposome-encapsulated indomethacin on inflammation and platelet aggregation

A comparison has been made between liposome-encapsulated and free indomethacin for their anti-inflammatory activities in the carrageenan paw oedema test in rats, and their inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine 5-diphosphate (ADP) in-vitro. Free indomethacin, 3 mg kg-1, strongly inhibited carrageenan-induced oedema and a similar inhibitory activity was shown by 0.3 mg kg-1 of encapsulated drug. For the inhibition of platelet aggregation, the threshold concentration of free drug was 0.559 mM. At this concentration, at least 5 min incubation was needed to achieve 12.5% and 45 min for 50% inhibition. The inhibition was much stronger with encapsulated drug, and pre-incubation of 28 microM encapsulated drug for 10 min with platelet-rich plasma before addition of ADP completely inhibited platelet aggregation.