Abstract

Trimetazidine is a cellular antiischemic agent with cytoprotective action and devoid of any hemodynamic activity. Extensive work has been carried out on this drug in cardiovascular therapeutics and in transplantation surgery. It was thus decided to investigate possible antiinflammatory activity it could exert by virtue of it being a calcium channel blocker. Trimetazidine being a cytoprotective agent could offer protection against experimentally induced ulcerations. Another objective was to extend the antiischemic activity of trimetazidine in the brain in the cryogenic cerebral ischemic injury model and finally to assess the free radical scavenging activity of the drug in the murine peritoneal macrophage model. Trimetazidine potentiated the antiinflammatory effect of ketoprofen and also significantly reduced the rate of edema formation. It was able to protect animals against the experimentally induced gastric ulcerations. Trimetazidine produced a significant antiischemic activity in the brain and also brought about a significant free radical scavenging effect.