Erythema acetylsalicylic acid

When nicotinic acid esters are applied to the skin of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, an anomalous vasoconstriction frequently occurs instead of the usual erythema and was at first thought to offer diagnostic possibilities . It is now apparent, however, that the effect is attributable to the therapeutic use, by such patients, of acetylsalicylic acid, which is remarkably potent in retarding the development of the reaction -. ... 

Isobutylphenylacetic acid (ibufenac, Dytransin), / -Mc2-GH GHg GgH4 GHj GO OH, possesses anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities 2-4 times those of acetylsalicylic acid measured by an ultra-violet erythema test and by the method of Randall and Sellito, and antipyretic properties 4 times those of acetylsalicylic acid. In a dose of 960 mg it is effective in delaying the development of ihurfyl nicotinate erythema in man . 

McKinney and Lish found that aminophylline is active in oral doses of 200 or 400 mg/kg in oedema of the rat-foot produced by carrageenan, dextran and formalin, but only slightly in that induced by 5-hydroxytryp-tamine. On the basis of the carrageenan results, it has a potency about half that of acetylsalicylic acid. It is about one-third as active as acetysalicylic acid in delaying ultra-violet erythema in the guinea-pig, but a toxic effect in this species cannot be excluded in making this assessment. The authors speculate on the extent to which the smooth muscle relaxant or vasodilator properties of aminophylline contribute to these results, and also whether the anti-inflammatory properties contribute to the therapeutic value of the drug in bronchoconstriction. 

Stewart Adams and John Nicholson at the Boots Company in Nottingham took acetylsalicylic acid as a lead template and looked for related anti-inflammatory structures, which would be devoid of the ASA-related side-effect. In 1955, they discovered that their anti-inflammatory compounds reduced skinreddening (erythema) in guinea-pigs, caused by ultraviolet irradiation. Thereby they had foimd a simple and feasible assay system to test a whole host of compounds. In 1961, out of a group of several hundred substances they were able to select the one, which was introduced to the British market in 1969 under the name ofibuprofen (Fig. 5.83). [180]... 

Lahti A, Oikarinen A, Viinikka L, Ylikorkala O, Hannuksela M (1983) Prostaglandins in contact urticaria induced by benzoic acid. Acta Dermatol Venereol 63 425-427 Lahti A, Vaananen A, Kokkonen E-L, Hannuksela M (1987) Acetylsalicylic acid inhibits non-immunologic contact urticaria. Contact Dermatitis 16 133-135 Lahti A, Kopola H, Harila A, Myllyla R, Hannuksela M (1993a) Assessment of skin erythema by eye, laser Doppler flowmeter, spectroradiometer, two-channel erythema meter and Minolta chroma meter. Arch Dermatol Res 285 278-282 Lahti A, Poutiainen A-M, Hannuksela M (1993b) Alcohol vehicles in tests for non-immunological immediate contact reactions. Contact Dermatitis 29 22-25... 

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