Sulfasalazine and its metabolites attenuate respiratory burst of leukocytes--a possible mechanism of anti-inflammatory effects.

The effects of sulfasalazine and its metabolites, 5-amino salicylic acid and sulfapyridine on respiratory burst of polymorphonuclear leukocytes were investigated by determining not only luminol-dependent chemiluminescence for the detection of myeloperoxidase-mediated active oxidants, but also lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence for the detection of superoxide anion. The present study showed that sulfasalazine, 5-amino salicylic acid and sulfapyridine attenuated active oxygen species from polymorphonuclear leukocytes at the concentrations comparable to clinical doses. Therefore, it was concluded that anti-inflammatory effects of sulfasalazine can be explained by the ability of sulfasalazine and its degraded compounds to scavenge active oxidants from polymorphonuclear leukocytes.