TABLE I ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF KETOPROFEN, INDOMETHACIN AND ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID Product

Evidence for the effectiveness of ketoprofen in animal models of inflammation and its anti-pyretic effect is reviewed. Its toxicity in animals is discussed and the low tendency to produce ulcers is stressed. 2-(3-BENZOYLPHENYL)PROPIONIC ACID or ketoprofen was selected in our laboratories during a systematic study, which started in 1966, of anti-inflammatory activity amongst the numerous benzoylphenyl alkyl acids. In our first publication which appeared in 1971 (Julou et al.) we explained all the points of interest which this product seemed to show experimentally: its very potent anti-inflammatory activity and its low toxicity, especially as regards the gastro-intestinal tract. Clinical studies carried out firstly in France and then in Britain and finally on a world-wide basis confirmed the therapeutic effect of ketoprofen. In this paper we have summarized the essential pharmacological and toxicological facts based on the study of ketoprofen in comparison with indomethacin and acetylsalicylic acid. The primary modes of action of the aryl alkyl and aryl carboxylic acids still remain to be worked out but it seems probable, as Shen pointed out in 1972, that these products have a variety of actions on the complex process of inflammation. PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDY The techniques which we have used for the study of the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activities of ketoprofen and of reference products have been describe