THEOPHYLLINE - AN ANTIINFLAMMATORY AGENT

Theophyllin has been introduced into therapy as ''cardiotonic'' drug. Later on its antiasthmatic efficacy became obvious. For a certain peri od it was the most often used antiasthmatic, then it became more and m ore substituted by modern p-mimetics and finally topical corticosteroi ds. During the last years more and more investigations could prove ant iphlogistic effects in in vitro and in vivo experiments, but also in c linical studies. Questions concerning the antiphlogistic mechanisms in detail are open as well as the exact corticosteroid equivalent. Never theless, theophyllin is again included in national and international r ecommendations for antiasthmatic therapy.