In vitro studies of anti-inflammatory activity of carprofen

In vitro activity of carprofen on some cellular mechanisms of the inflammatory response has been investigated in comparison with hydrocortisone and ibuprofen. The drugs were studied in two ways: (a) by adding progressive concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1000 micrograms/ml to triplicate cell samples, for the determination of the dose/response curve, and (b) by using a fixed concentration to study the variations in the effect of the different drugs. The results obtained showed that carprofen was able to exert a dose-dependent inhibition on neutrophil phagocytosis and particularly on their chemotaxis. Its activity was higher than that observed with ibuprofen and almost comparable with that of hydrocortisone. These results suggest that anti-inflammatory activity of carprofen is probably performed through a dose-dependent inhibition of some neutrophil-macrophage function.