Flurbiprofen: highly potent inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis

Flurbiprofen, 2-(2-fluoro-4-biphenylyl)propionic acid, inhibited the formation of prostaglandin E2 from arachidonic acid by bovine seminal vesicular microsomes. It was found that flurbiprofen was an approx. 12.5-fold better inhibitor than indomethacin by comparison of their I50 values. It was suggested that the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by flurbiprofen might be due to the inhibition of the endoperoxygenase which catalyzed conversion of arachidonic acid to cyclic endoperoxide. Other carboxylic acid compounds such as aspirin, ibuprofen and indomethacin showed the same type of inhibition as flurbiprofen. In contrast, phenylbutazone which was a pyrozolone derivative inhibited the formation of prostaglandin E2, but not affected the endoperoxygenase reaction. The kinetic studies for inhibition of prostaglandin E2 synthetase indicated that flurbiprofen competitively inhibited prostaglandin E2 synthesis, just like indomethacin. The Ki values were estimated to be 0.128 micron for flurbiprofen and 3.18 micron for indomethacin.