maprotiline inhibits lps-induced expression of adhesion molecules (icam-1 and vcam-1) in human endothelial cells

regardless of the known anti-inflammatory potential of heterocyclic antidepressants, the mechanisms concerning their modulating effects are not completely known. in our earlier work, maprotiline, a heterocyclic antidepressants, considerably inhibited infiltration of polymorphonuclear cell leucocytes into the inflamed paw. to understand the mechanism involved, we evaluated the effect of vascular cell adhesion molecule (vcam-1), intracellular adhesion molecule (icam-1) expression in stimulated endothelial cells. endothelial cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (lps)  in the presence and absence of maprotiline (10 -8 to 10 -6 m) and icam-1 and vcam-1 expression were measured using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. maprotiline significantly decreased the lps-induced expression of vcam-1 at all applied concentrations. the expression of icam-1 decreased in the presence of maprotiline at 10 -6 m concentration ( p< 0.05). since maprotiline inhibits the expression of adhesion molecules, icam-1 and vcam-1 in lps-stimulated human endothelial cells , it can be a possible way through which maprotiline exerts its anti-inflammatory properties.