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Eicosanoids and Their Drugs in Cardiovascular Diseases: Focus on Atherosclerosis and Stroke
Author(s) -
Capra Valérie,
Bäck Magnus,
Barbieri Silvia S.,
Camera Marina,
Tremoli Elena,
Rovati G. Enrico
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
medicinal research reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.868
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1098-1128
pISSN - 0198-6325
DOI - 10.1002/med.21251
Subject(s) - cyclooxygenase , prostacyclin , eicosanoid , isoprostanes , thromboxanes , lipid signaling , thromboxane , arachidonic acid , thromboxane a2 , thromboxane receptor , prostaglandin , lipoxygenase , leukotriene , chemistry , inflammation , signal transduction , pharmacology , prostanoid , prostaglandin h2 , receptor , biochemistry , biology , medicine , enzyme , platelet , asthma
Eicosanoids are biologically active lipids in both physiologic and pathophysiologic situations. These mediators rapidly generate at sites of inflammation and act through specific receptors that following the generation of a signal transduction cascade, lead to coordinated cellular responses to specific stimuli. Prostanoids, that is, prostaglandins and thromboxane A 2 , are active products of the cyclooxygenase pathway, while leukotrienes and lipoxins derive from the lipoxygenase pathway. In addition, a complex family of prostaglandin isomers called isoprostanes is derived as free‐radical products of oxidative metabolism. While there is a wide consensus on the importance of the balance between proaggregating (thromboxane A 2 ) and antiaggregating (prostacyclin) cyclooxygenase products in cardiovascular homeostasis, an increasing body of evidence suggests a key role also for other eicosanoids generated by lipoxygenases, epoxygenases, and nonenzymatic pathways in cardiovascular diseases. This intricate network of lipid mediators is unique considering that from a single precursor, arachidonic acid, may derive an array of bioproducts that interact within each other synergizing or, more often, behaving as functional antagonists.