A pharmacological analysis of aspirin.

Abstract

Publisher Summary The salicylates are age old drug that in the form of willow bark and other herbal preparations have been used for long and their therapeutic effects have been reported in man first rather than in animals. It is suggested that salicylic acid was first used clinically in place of carbolic acid to disinfect wounds. When aspirin was introduced, as a more palatable and less topically toxic form of salicylic acid, the therapeutic properties of the parent compound were already well known. Because aspirin is probably the most widely used medicinal drug in the world, it is the mainstay of several pharmaceutical manufacturers. Interest lies in areas like what are the pharmacologic relatives of aspirin, where do the boundaries of this group of drugs lie, and does aspirin differ from sodium salicylate in its quantitative profile of actions. In view that aspirin is effective in its own right, this chapter explains the pharmacology of aspirin rather than that of salicylate in general. Results obtained with salicylates other than aspirin is only included, insofar, as they help to throw light on the pharmacology of aspirin. The chapter in the analysis of the antidefensive action of aspirin, considers the responses to noxae under various heads— namely, antipyresis, antinociception, anti-inflammation, antagonism of smooth muscle responses, and antihemostasis. The chapter also considers the other effects of aspirin that might be deemed antidefensive, such as damage to epithelia. When these pharmacologic effects of aspirin have been considered separately, how aspirin exerts these effects and to what extent a common mechanism underlying defensive responses may be identified as the target of this drug is assessed.

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