ACETAMINOPHEN AND MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION

Acetominophen is a widely used therapeutic agent which is a relatively common cause of drug - induced liver damage in over dose. When macrop hages from healthy individuals are incubated with this drug in vitro t here is an increase in the production of the cytokine tumour necrosis factor with a 3-fold increase at drug concentrations between 250 and 5 00 mu g/mI. This has important implications for the mode of action of this drug and for the treatment of overdoses.