In vivo effects of indomethacin and flurbiprofen on the locomotion of neutrophils elicited by immune and non-immune inflammation in the rat.

The in vivo effects of indomethacin (3 mg/kg) and flurbiprofen (1.5 mg/kg) were investigated on the development of three different pleural inflammations in the rat and on in vitro locomotion of elicited neutrophils (PMN). Indomethacin and flurbiprofen similarly reduced the development of non-immune pleurisy induced by decomplemented isologous rat serum (DIRS) to a similar degree but had no effect in the delayed hypersensitivity reaction (DHR) model. Flurbiprofen was less effective than indomethacin in the immediate hypersensitivity reaction (IHR) model. PMN elicited by the two immune reactions (IHR and DHR) displayed lower random and directed locomotion than DIRS-elicited PMN. Neither drug interfered with DIRS-elicited PMN locomotion. They inhibited both random migration and directed locomotion of unwashed PMN (i.e. suspended in their original exudate) elicited by IHR or DHR and stimulated by the peptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) or isologous rat serum (IRS). Locomotion of washed IHR-elicited PMN stimulated with IRS was also inhibited by the two drugs. The data suggest that these drugs could impair PMN movement at inflammatory sites.