ABSTRACT
Concomitant Administration of β-Glucan and Indometacin.......................149 8.4 Increased Sensitivity to Endotoxin Due to Concomitant
Administration of β-Glucan and Indometacin.............................................151 8.5 Effects of Nitric Oxide in the Appearance of Lethal Side Effects
Caused by β-Glucans ...................................................................................152 8.6 Strain Differences in Response to β-Glucans .............................................153 8.7 Conclusion....................................................................................................154 References..............................................................................................................156
Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is the generic term for anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce pain and inflammation by suppressing the production of prostaglandins (PGs) as a result of cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition (Dubois et al., 2004; Brooks, 2003; Mahmud et al., 2004; Kamat, 2003; Smithard, 2003; Swartz, 2003; Shah, 2003; FitzGerald, 2003; Weinberg, 2003; Mayrink et al., 2003). More than 30 million people around the world are using NSAIDs every day. Some 35 million prescriptions are written each year in the U.S. alone, and if single administrations are included, it is estimated that approximately 1.5% of the U.S. population uses NSAIDs. Moreover, some surveys in the U.S. and U.K. have revealed that NSAIDs account for approximately 5% of all prescriptions. It was first reported in the 1990s that there are two isotypes of COX that are inhibited by NSAIDs, namely COX1 and COX2, and that drugs selective for those two isotypes have been targeted in drug development (Gomez Cerezo et al., 2003; Mengle Gaw and Schwartz, 2002).
Normally, COX2 is hardly found in any cells, and its expression is induced in inflammatory cells and cancer cells by stimulation with such substances as cytokines, hormones, and carcinogenic promoters. For this reason, PGs induced in this manner have been clearly demonstrated to be involved in inflammation, cell growth, vascularization, carcinogenesis, ovulation, and childbirth. On the other hand, PGs induced by the constitutive enzyme COX1 are thought to protect the body by protecting the gastric mucosa and maintaining normal kidney function.
