1. ¹Pain Research Section, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
2. ²Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
3. ³Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
4. ⁴Oral Infection and Immunity Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Correspondence: RA Dionne, (dionner@mail.nih.gov)

Received 6 September 2007; Accepted 9 December 2007; Published online 20 February 2008.

Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) has a central role in inflammation and is modulated by prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Using microarray, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and protein detection techniques, we showed that ketorolac and rofecoxib had no significant effect on TNF- gene expression in oral mucosal biopsies 3 h after surgery. They both, however, downregulated the gene and protein expression of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4D), which might represent a novel mechanism contributing to their analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.