Scientists Just Learned Something New About How Aspirin Works

I still have a lot to learn about one of them. World’s oldest medicine: aspirin.investigating This week, researchers found that they We have further clarified how the drug reduces inflammation. The findings are pAccording to the team, it offers a way to create similar, but safer, treatments for inflammation and even cancer..

Aspirin is also called acetylsalicylic acid first synthesized Around the turn of the 20th century there were precursors to it from the willow plant, Already used by humans for thousands of yearsA type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)As with other NSAIDs, Treat fever, inflammation and pain.that also have Unique hemodilution effect.

Aspirin is one of the most widely used drugs in the world as a short-term option for a variety of ailments and as a preventive treatment for people at high risk of cardiovascular disease.But it’s not without Increased risk of side effects, namely gastrointestinal bleeding.Last year, even US experts stopped recommending A daily dose of infant aspirin for older adults with no history of heart attack or stroke. Known risk.

Aspirin has played an important role for over a century, but we still don’t know much about what it does in the body.So scientists at the University of Texas at Arlington wanted to better study its dynamics. Their findings were presented Tuesday at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) annual meeting this week.

“Aspirin is a magic drug, but long-term use can cause harmful side effects, including internal bleeding and organ damage,” said study author Subhrangsu Mandal, professor of chemistry and biochemistry. statement From ASBMB. “It is important to understand how it works so that we can develop safer drugs with fewer side effects.”

Aspirin is known to inhibit an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX). These enzymes play an important role in producing other chemicals that cause inflammation.researcher They say they have discovered several ways that aspirin influences this process, from regulating transcription factors that enable the expression of cytokines (proteins involved in inflammation and our immune response) to controlling inflammation. It also seems to achieve the latter by inhibiting the production of indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO), especially IDO1, during the inflammatory process.

“Since aspirin is a COX inhibitor, this suggests a possible interaction between COX and IDO1 during inflammation,” said Mandel.

This interaction may be important in treating other types of ailments beyond aspirin’s typical indications, the researchers say. It also points out that some immunotherapies that try to target will also target. IDO1Therefore, future COX/IDO1 inhibitors may become feasible as immunotherapeutics.

Such basic research is indispensable for drug development. beginning of the road. Mandel and his team say that now in the lab he is trying to create small molecules that similarly inhibit COX/IDO1.