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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Fast and Specific Assessment of the Halogenating Peroxidase Activity in Leukocyte-enriched Blood Samples
Published on: July 28, 2016
Ambroxol is a scavenger of hypochlorous acid and monochloramine
D Lapenna1, S de Gioia, G Ciofani
1Cattedra di Patologia Speciale Medica, Università degli Studi G. D Annunziò, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Chieti, Italy.
Abstract:
Experimental studies have suggested that ambroxol, a drug clinically used to enhance pulmonary surfactant production, may also exert some anti-inflammatory effects, though specific mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Thus, potential scavenging properties of ambroxol towards the most toxic neutrophil-arising prooxidants hypochlorous acid and monochloramine were investigated. We have found that the drug at 25, 50 and 100 mumol/l exerted a significant, concentration-related antagonizing effect on both chlorine species, with a maximal specific activity detected against hypochlorous acid. These new pharmacological properties of ambroxol may play a role in vivo in disease entities characterized by white blood cell activation and uncontrolled oxidant generation, such as inflammatory/ischemic conditions.
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