ABSTRACT
The increase in serum or plasma copper concentration found in all cancers studied has special significance since it has recently been recognized that many, if not all, tumor cells have decreased copper-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymatic activity. Prior to 1969, occasional publications reported that sodium-3-(N-allylcuprothiouredo)-1-benzoate and cuprous iodide had anti-inflammatory activity and that Cu(II)(salicylate) had fever-lowering effects in various models of inflammation or fever. However, mixtures of copper salts and salicylic acid or ethyl salicylate in aqueous ethanol or glycerol-dimethysul-foxide solutions have recently been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity in a variety of animal models of inflammation following topical application. The lack of gastric irritation, the presence of antiulcer activity, and the enhanced anti-inflammatory activity of these complexes make this class of potentially useful antiarthritic drugs particularly promising since the arthritic syndrome is likely to include gastric ulcers.
