The purpose of the review is to summarize current literature data and the results of our own research on the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of acetylsalicylic acid, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them. This acid is the most studied reference representative of salicylates, which is convenient to consider the physiological effects characteristic in general for this group of chemical and medicinal products.
Acetylsalicylic acid has analgesic properties against thermal pain and pain caused by electrical stimuli, as well as a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. The realization of these properties depends on the peculiarities of aspirin metabolism in the body, ion and synaptic mechanisms for controlling the functional state of the cell, neurotransmitter systems of the сentral nervous system, and mechanisms of peripheral and сentral analgesia.
Analgesic properties of acetylsalicylic acid founded not only in normal, but also in ultra-small doses. Various physical and especially chemical factors significantly change their effects. This increases the interest in studying the analgesic activity of salicylates and their physiological mechanisms, since such studies can serve as a basis for creating new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with low toxicity and high safety for patients, and improve the strategy of their practical use.
Currently, the most detailed study of the physiological mechanism of analgesic and anti-inflammatory action of aspirin and its main metabolite – salicylic acid. However, it should be note that despite the abundance of existing data obtained in scientific studies of the effects of aspirin and its practical use, there are a number of unexplained aspects of the action of this drug, the mechanism of which has not yet been deciphered. The continuing interest in the effects and mechanisms of action of this drug and in connection with the expansion of its use evidenced by a consistently high number of scientific publications on aspirin in the most famous foreign and domestic publications. At the same time, the number of publications about aspirin is an order of magnitude higher than about any other drug known to humanity.
Physiological mechanisms for the modulation of pannexin 1 channel activity
