Substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) are well established mediators of inflammation. Therefore, inhibition of the biosynthesis of these neuropeptides is an attractive potential strategy for pharmacological intervention against a number of inflammatory diseases. The final step in the biosynthesis of SP and CGRP is the conversion of their glycineextended precursors to the active amidated peptide, and this process is catalyzed by sequential action of the enzymes peptidylglycine ␣-monooxygenase (PAM) and peptidylamidoglycolate lyase. We have demonstrated previously that 4-phenyl-3-butenoic acid (PBA) is a PAM inhibitor, and we have also shown that in vivo inhibition of serum PAM by PBA correlates with this compound's ability to inhibit carrageenan-induced edema in the rat. Here we demonstrate the ability of PBA to inhibit all three phases of adjuvant-induced polyarthritis (AIP) in rats; this represents the first time that an amidation inhibitor has been shown to be active in a model of chronic inflammation. We recently introduced 5-(acetylamino)-4-oxo-6-phenyl-2-hexenoic acid (AOPHA) as one of a new series of mechanismbased amidation inhibitors. We now report for the first time that AOPHA and its methyl ester (AOPHA-Me) are active inhibitors of serum PAM in vivo, and we show that AOPHA-Me correspondingly inhibits carrageenan-induced edema in rats in a dose-dependent manner. Neither PBA nor AOPHA-Me exhibits significant cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition in vitro; thus, the anti-inflammatory activities of PBA and AOPHA-Me are apparently not a consequence of COX inhibition. We discuss possible pharmacological mechanisms that may account for the activities of these new antiinflammatory compounds.A number of neuropeptides, such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), neuropeptide Y, substance P (SP), and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, are initially synthesized as glycine-extended precursors, which are then converted to the bioactive C-terminal amidated form. Amidation is a two-step process catalyzed by the sequential actions of peptidylglycine ␣-monooxygenase (PAM; EC 1.14.17.3) and peptidylamidoglycolate lyase (EC 4.3.2.5). The monooxygenase first catalyzes ␣-hydroxylation of the glycine-extended precursor, and the lyase then catalyzes conversion of this ␣-hydroxyglycine derivative to the C-terminally amidated peptide (Katopodis et al., , 1991Ping et al., 1992). In the case of SP and CGRP, their release from nerves, as well as inflammatory cells, has been shown to facilitate a number of inflammatory events, including increased vascular permeability, chemotaxis, and release of inflammatory mediators, such as cytokines, eicosanoids, and histamine (Pernow, 1983;Matucci-Cernic and Partsch, 1992;Haines et al., 1993;Holzer and Holzer-Petsche, 1997). Further evidence demonstrating the inflammatory capacity of SP was noted when SP receptor (neurokinin-1 receptor) knockout mice developed significantly less inflammation than controls after treatment with a phlogistic agent (Bozic et al., 1996)....