MRS U. A. PETERS

Asthma is a serious health and socioeconomic issue, affecting more than 300 million persons, with approximately 250,000 annual deaths. Asthma treatment has been based only on beta-2 agonists and corticosteroids, with a minimal role for other older drugs such as theophylline and chromosomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the
effects of montelukast and hydrocortisone on some inflammatory markers in asthma induced Sprague-Dawley rats. Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 180-250 g were divided into two (2) main groups; the Control group (rat feed with chow and water) and Test group (rat exposed to Ovalbumin and aluminum hydroxide to induce asthma and treated with Montelukast and Hydrocortisone). Inflammatory markers such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), High Sensitivity C- Reactive Protein (Hs-CRP) and Neutrophil to Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were assayed in blood plasma. The result showed that Interleukin 6 of asthma induced Sprague Dawley rats was significantly (p<0.05) higher after treatment with Hydrocortisone (2.6293pg/ml) compared to montelukast (2.4983pg/ml) treatment, control (2.0588 p g/ml) and negative control (2.2173 p g/ml), A significant (P<0.05) difference in high sensitivity C-reactive protein was observed between hydrocortisone, control, negative control and montelukast while neutrophil to lymphocytes ratio of negative control was significantly different from control, montelukast and hydrocortisone treatments. A synergic effect of anti inflammatory activity of Montelukast and hydrocortisone on asthma might exist.