pentoxifylline--an overlooked treatment perhaps for inflammation etc?

[wendyoh]

I am curious if anyone knows much about this or even tried it? It isn't commonly used in states I don't think, except maybe for blood issues, but this MD wrote a book about how it could have immune modulating and pain relief etc properties and gets overlooked, perhaps because its old and isn't being studied anymore. You have to wonder if some old meds are gems in the rough but don't get re-looked at for other applications.......

Pentoxifylline: A Versatile Off-Patent Medication Best Not Overlooked Paperback ? April 10, 2015
by Robert Charles Powell (Author)

I am curious because of neuro-inflammation in spine/neck, head etc It is used in some places topically for pain, there is research on it. If you scroll down on this study you can find the paragraph about pento, showed promise with radiculopathy pain:

"Traditionally used in the treatment of intermittent claudication, it is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor that inhibits tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α), (66) an inflammatory cytokine found to be elevated in radiculopathy from herniated discs when compared to other back pain. This leads to the potential use of medications that inhibit TNF α for the treatment of radicular pain (67). Limited studies are available regarding the use of Pentoxifylline for pain associated with radiculopathy, but there are case reports showing potential in epidural fibrosis from failed back syndrome and a separate study showing improvement in radiation induced lumbosacral polyradiculopathy using a combination agent which included Pentoxifylline (68, 69). No studies have examined the topical formulation. " (until now)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4886452/