An appraisal of the technique of polymorphonuclear leukocyte chemiluminescence as a means to detect compounds with antiinflammatory activity.

The measurement of luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of inflammatory rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), when exposed to opsonized zymosan particles, has been used as a possible screening system for nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID). An in vitro system may be used to detect NSAIDs, however the sensitivity is not of a high order. On the other hand an inhibitor of the lipoxygenase system (NDGA) and a dual lipo-cyclooxygenase inhibitor (BW755c) are easily detectable at low concentrations (10(-6)M). In parallel, an in vivo system has been developed, using rat PMNs from the same source, but pretreating the animals with drugs before induction of the inflammatory reaction and subsequent PMN collection. In this case NSAIDs, steroids, and dual lipo-cyclooxygenase inhibitors were readily detectable. It is suggested that this in vitro-in vivo system may prove useful in the detection of compounds that inhibit the lipoxygenase system or which have steroidal-like characteristics.