Specialized pro-resolving mediators

Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM, also termed specialized proresolving mediators) are a large and growing class of cell signaling molecules formed in cells by the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) by one or a combination of lipoxygenase, cyclooxygenase, and monooxygenase enzymes. Pre-clinical studies, primarily in animal models and human tissues, implicate SPM in orchestrating the resolution of inflammation. These studies suggest that synthetic SPM that are resistant to being metabolically inactivated hold promise of being clinically useful pharmacological tools for preventing and resolving a wide range of pathological inflammatory responses along with the tissue destruction and morbidity that these responses cause. Based on animal model studies, the inflammation-based diseases which may be treated by such metabolically resistant SPM analogs include not only pathological and tissue damaging responses to invading pathogens but also a wide array of pathological conditions in which inflammation is a contributing factor such as allergic inflammatory diseases (e.g. asthma, rhinitis), autoimmune diseases ( e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis), psoriasis, atherosclerosis disease leading to heart attacks and strokes, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, and certain dementia syndromes (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, Huntingdon's disease). SPM join the long list of other physiological agents which tend to limit inflammation (see Inflammation#Resolution of inflammation) including glucocorticoids, Annexin A1, Melanocortins, and the gaseous resolvins, carbon monoxide (see carbon monoxide#Normal human physiology), nitric oxide (see nitric oxide#Biological functions), and hydrogen sulfide (see hydrogen sulfide#Function in the body and hydrogen sulfide#Involvement in diseases).

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