Benoxaprofen inhibits the adhesion of human monocytes to cultured vascular endothelium.

Pretreatment of human monocytes with benoxaprofen for at least 2 h produced a dose-dependent abrogation of their adhesion to monolayers of cultured porcine endothelium with 0.05 microgram/ml and 50.0 micrograms/ml of the drug inducing a mean 33% and 83% inhibition of adhesion respectively. When the endothelium was treated with the drug there was no modification of monocyte adhesion. In contrast, pretreatment of endothelium with 5.0 and 50.0 micrograms/ml benoxaprofen for at least 6 h resulted in a mean 35% and 31% inhibition of polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) adhesion in 6/11 experiments. This inhibitory effect was not seen when drug-treated PMNs were added to endothelium. An impairment of monocyte chemotactic migration was only apparent with high concentrations of the drug (50 micrograms/ml). These results suggest that an important anti-inflammatory property of benoxaprofen is the inhibition of monocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium.