Enhancement of the anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of theophylline by a low dose of a nitric oxide donor or non-specific nitric oxide synthase inhibitor

摘要

Background and purpose:Although there are many new specific phosphodiesterase inhibitors with anti-inflammatory activity, none have yet reached the market because of their low therapeutic efficacy. Our study was aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effect of an established phosphodiesterase inhibitor, theophylline, and to investigate the effect of the nitric oxide (NO) donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) or NO synthase inhibitor, L-N^G-monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA) on its actions.