Anti-inflammatory effects of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate on carrageenan-induced pleurisy in rat

In the present study, we evaluated the effect of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), a high energy intermediate metabolite of glycolysis, in an acute model of lung injury. Injection of carrageenan into the pleural cavity of rats elicited an acute inflammation response characterized by a fluid accumulation in the pleural cavity which contained a large number of polymorphonuclear neutrophils. FBP (500 mg/kg) attenuated the inflammation parameters: exudate volume, total leukocytes and the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, but the protein concentration in the exudate was not significantly affected by treatment with FBP. The precise site and mechanism of the anti-inflammatory effect was not addressed, considering the diverse pharmacological actions of FBP. This drug has anti-inflammatory actions suggesting that it may represent a novel strategy for the modulation of inflammatory response. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.