thromboxane-b2 and azelastine

Alcohol-induced bronchoconstriction is due to high blood concentrations of acetaldehyde, a metabolic product of ethanol, which lead to the release of histamine from basophils and mast cells.. We examined the inhibitory effects of azelastine hydrochloride, which inhibits histamine release and blocks H1 receptors, in alcohol-induced asthma.. Subjects were 13 Japanese asthmatic patients. We measured the change in FEV1 after ingestion of 30 g of pure ethanol. Blood ethanol, acetaldehyde, histamine, leukotriene C4 (LTC4), and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) concentrations were also measured. Alcohol challenge test was repeated in responders after administration of azelastine for 1 week at 4 mg/day.. Of 13 asthmatic patients, five (38.5%) tested positive during an ethanol challenge test, represented by a fall more than 20% in FEV1. The responders had a high blood ethanol, and showed a rise in blood acetaldehyde and histamine concentrations, but not in LTC4 or TXB2. After azelastine treatment, there was no significant fall in FEV1 among responders. Neither the rise in blood ethanol nor blood acetaldehyde levels were blunted by treatment with azelastine, but the rise in blood histamine was blunted by this treatment.. Our results suggest that antihistamine agents may be effective against alcohol-induced asthma by both blocking H1 receptors and inhibiting histamine release.

Topics: Acetaldehyde; Adult; Aged; Asthma; Bronchoconstrictor Agents; Bronchodilator Agents; Ethanol; Female; Histamine; Humans; Leukotriene C4; Male; Middle Aged; Phthalazines; Respiratory Function Tests; Thromboxane B2

To examine the effects of a specific cysteinyl leukotriene (cysLT) antagonist, pranlukast, on allergic rhinitis, antigen-induced rhinitis in guinea pigs was modified by pretreatment with an cyclooxygenase inhibitor (indomethacin) followed by an H1-blocker (pyrilamine). Intranasal ovalbumin (OVA) administration in actively sensitized guinea pigs resulted in concentration-dependent increases in nasal permeability and nasal airway resistance (NAR). Although pyrilamine (1 mg/kg, i.v.) abolished these antigen-induced changes, pretreatment with indomethacin (5 mg/kg, i.v.) followed by pyrilamine enhanced these responses to a degree similar to that observed with OVA challenge alone. Analyses of nasal perfusate in indomethacin/pyrilamine-pretreated animals showed that cysLTs increased by 270.8%, whereas thromboxane B2 decreased by 88.3% as compared with those on challenged with OVA alone. Oral administration of pranlukast (1-10 mg/kg) dose-dependently prevented increases in nasal permeability and NAR of indomethacin/pyrilamine-pretreated animals. However, an anti-allergic agent, azelastine, did not affect these responses. These results indicate that pranlukast suppresses antigen-induced cysLT-mediated responses of allergic rhinitis in actively sensitized guinea pigs. A cysLT antagonist, pranlukast, may thus prevent cysLT-mediated symptoms of allergic rhinitis.

Topics: Airway Resistance; Animals; Anti-Allergic Agents; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Chromones; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Interactions; Guinea Pigs; Histamine H1 Antagonists; Indomethacin; Leukotriene Antagonists; Nasal Mucosa; Ovalbumin; Phthalazines; Pyrilamine; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial; SRS-A; Thromboxane B2

The effect of azelastine on platelet-activating factor (PAF)-induced bronchoconstriction and mediator release in isolated lungs from actively sensitised guinea-pigs was investigated. Guinea-pigs were actively sensitised with two s.c. injections of 10 micrograms ovalbumin in 1 mg Al (OH)3 at a 2-week interval. One week after the second injection, the lungs were removed and challenged intra-arterially with PAF or arachidonic acid. In some experiments lungs from non-immunised guinea-pigs were injected with PAF or histamine. Bronchoconstriction, the release of thromboxane (TX)B2 or leukotriene (LT)-like material and the histamine content of the effluent were evaluated. Azelastine was given s.c. at 10 or 100 micrograms/kg, 4 h before lung removal. Azelastine (100 micrograms/kg) did not inhibit PAF-induced bronchoconstriction and mediator release from lungs from non-immunised guinea-pigs. In contrast, the hyperresponsiveness to 1 ng PAF observed in lungs from actively sensitised animals was dose dependently inhibited by azelastine. Azelastine did not reduce the histamine-induced bronchoconstriction and consequent TXB2 release from lungs from immunised guinea-pigs, indicating that the protective effect exerted against hyperresponsiveness to PAF was not due to histamine antagonism. Azelastine also reduced arachidonic acid-induced bronchoconstriction and LT-like material release from sensitised lungs, regardless of the presence of indomethacin. These results suggest that inhibition of lung hyperresponsiveness to PAF by azelastine may result from an interference with leukotriene synthesis.

Topics: Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Bronchoconstriction; Guinea Pigs; Histamine; Immunization; Injections, Intra-Arterial; Leukotrienes; Lung; Male; Ovalbumin; Phthalazines; Platelet Activating Factor; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; Pulmonary Artery; Thromboxane B2

1. The capacity of various drugs (acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), ketoprofen, diclofenac, piroxicam, BW 755C, BW A4C, nedocromil sodium and azelastine) to inhibit human polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN)-mediated platelet activation was investigated. In this model, stimulated PMN release cathepsin G (Cat G), a serine proteinase which, in turn, induces platelet activation. 2. Among the different tested drugs, azelastine (100 microM for 1 min) was the only one able to prevent platelet aggregation. The cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors were all inactive, although used at effective concentrations as judged by inhibition of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) formation. Inhibition of platelet aggregation by azelastine was concentration-dependent, the range of active concentrations being of 20-70 microM. Release from platelets of 5-hydroxytryptamine was also inhibited at 30 microM and above, but never reached 100%. 3. The inhibition by azelastine is due to an effect on both cells. Indeed, beta-glucuronidase release from activated PMN and platelet activation by purified Cat G were both affected. 4. However, used at high concentrations (greater than 100 microM) azelastine was toxic since it released significant amounts of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from PMN and platelets. 5. These results show the capacity of azelastine, an anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic compound, to inhibit the cell-to-cell communication between PMN and platelets, an effect which may be relevant for its therapeutic efficacy or for a new application in diseases in which PMN and platelets are involved.

Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Asthma; Glucuronidase; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Leukotriene B4; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Neutrophils; Phthalazines; Platelet Activation; Platelet Aggregation; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; Serotonin; Thromboxane B2; Vasodilator Agents

We studied the effect of (E)-3-[p-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)phenyl]-2-propenoic acid hydrochloride monohydrate (OKY-046.HCl), a specific thromboxane (TX) A2 synthetase inhibitor, on airway hyperresponsiveness of guinea pigs. OKY-046.HCl (30-100 mg/kg, intraduodenally (i.d.) or orally (p.o.)) suppressed dose dependently the airway hyperresponsiveness to acetylcholine (ACh) induced by formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), platelet activating factor (PAF) and repetitive antigen. OKY-046.HCl (100 mg/kg) also inhibited the increase in TXB2 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) induced by FMLP, PAF and antigen. Aspirin 10 or 30 mg/kg i.d. or p.o.) suppressed the airway hyperresponsiveness induced by FMLP and PAF but not by antigen. Azelastine (10 mg/kg i.d.) was ineffective on PAF- and antigen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness. TXA2 mimetic drugs caused airway hyperresponsiveness that was not inhibited by OKY-046.HCl (30 mg/kg i.v.). Furthermore, OKY-046.HCl showed no effect on propranolol- and physostigmine-induced airway hyperresponsiveness which did not accompany TXB2 generation in BALF. The number of eosinophils in BALF increased after FMLP exposure, an effect which was not inhibited by OKY-046.HCl. These results suggest that OKY-046.HCl inhibits airway hyperresponsiveness by suppressing TXA2 generation. We suggest that OKY-046.HCl will be a new antiasthmatic drug.

Topics: 6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha; Acetylcholine; Airway Resistance; Animals; Antigens; Aspirin; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Guinea Pigs; Leukotriene E4; Methacrylates; N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; Phthalazines; Physostigmine; Platelet Activating Factor; Propranolol; Respiratory System; SRS-A; Thromboxane B2; Thromboxane-A Synthase

Azelastine is a phthalazinone derivative with a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. Actively sensitized guinea pigs were used to examine the broncholytic effect of azelastine in vivo. Furthermore, the influence of azelastine on the production of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites was investigated in vitro and compared to the effects of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), indomethacin and ketotifen. In vivo, azelastine protected actively sensitized guinea-pigs against ovalbumin-induced bronchospasm with an ID50 of 0.08 mg/kg orally. Ketotifen was similarly active (ID50 = 0.05 mg/kg). Antigen-induced contraction of isolated tracheal rings of sensitized guinea-pigs was concentration-dependently inhibited by azelastine and NDGA with IC50-values of 94.1 and 34.2 mumol/l, respectively. Ketotifen exerted only weak inhibitory activity (18% at 100 mumol/l). The arachidonic acid-induced contraction of isolated guinea-pig tracheal rings was also inhibited both by azelastine (IC50 = 92.6 mumol/l) and NDGA (IC50 = 20.4 mumol/l). Ketotifen was inactive on this model. Antigen challenge of chopped lung tissue from sensitized guinea-pigs resulted in the release of cysteinyl-leukotrienes (LT) which were identified by reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) as LTD4 and LTE4. The release of cysteinyl-LT from sensitized guinea-pig lung tissue induced by antigen challenge was concentration-dependently inhibited by azelastine (IC50 = 35.2 mumol/l) and NDGA (IC50 = 8.4 mumol/l) but not by ketotifen and indomethacin. By contrast, indomethacin caused a pronounced augmentation of cysteinyl-LT release. The concentration of indomethacin, which augmented cysteinyl-LT release by 50% was 0.19 mumol/l.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Animals; Antigens; Arachidonic Acid; Arachidonic Acids; Bronchi; Guinea Pigs; Histamine H1 Antagonists; In Vitro Techniques; Indomethacin; Ketotifen; Leukotriene E4; Male; Masoprocol; Muscle Contraction; Ovalbumin; Phthalazines; Pyridazines; SRS-A; Thromboxane B2; Trachea