花生四烯酸、二十二碳六烯酸和二十碳五烯酸 在炎症中的作用概述

心脑血管疾病、肿瘤、糖尿病、神经系统疾病、自身免疫等疾病严重危害着人类的生命和健康,并消耗着大量医疗资源。事实上,很多疾病发生和发展的背后都伴随着炎症反应,炎症是众多疾病的病理基础,甚至是导致这些疾病的诱因。炎症本身是机体的防御性反应,但过度的炎症反应和长期慢性炎症会损害机体的稳态。炎症的调节和控制由炎症介质介导,花生四烯酸(arachidonic acid,AA)、二十二碳六烯酸(docosahexaenoic acid,DHA)和二十碳五烯酸(eicosapentaenoic acid,EPA)等长链多不饱和脂肪酸(10ng-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids,LC-PUFAs)的衍生物是一类重要的调控炎症的介质。炎性细胞间的交流和细胞内信号传递与LC-PUFAs有关。AA经环氧酶和脂氧合酶合成的类二十烷酸主要起促炎作用,但有的也有抗炎作用。DHA和EPA在体内起抗炎作用,由它们合成的消退素(resolvins,Rvs)和保护素(protectin,PD)是重要的抗炎活性物质。DHA和EPA还可以干扰炎性细胞内信号传导途径来抑制炎症反应。本文从炎症与疾病的关系、LC-PUFAs的衍生物及其促炎和抗炎机制等方面综述了AA、DHA和EPA在炎症中的作用。

Roles of arachidonic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in inflammation

Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, neurological diseases and autoimmune disease are major threat to human health and long life, and a large amount of medical resources are consumed on the treatment of these diseases. In fact, the progression of these diseases is pointed out to be accompanied by inflammatory response, and inflammation is regarded as pathological basis of many diseases. Normally inflammation itself is a defensive reaction of body, but excessive inflammatory response and chronic inflammation can damage organ homeostasis. On the other side, regulation and control of inflammation can be mediated by inflammatory mediators. It is indicated that derivatives of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), such as arachidonic acid (AA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are important regulatory mediators. The results show that eicosanoids synthesised from AA play both effects of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory, while resolvins and protectins synthesized from DHA and EPA can inhibit inflammatory response through interfering with certain signaling pathway in inflammatory cells. This article summarized the roles of AA, DHA and EPA in inflammatory reactions from the relationship between inflammation and disease, the derivatives of LC-PUFAs and pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanism, etc.