Cf. Vandermerwe, A DIFFERENT AND PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO MANIPULATING THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE, European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology, 5(6), 1993, pp. 433-436
The mainstay of present anti-inflammatory therapy is prostaglandin inh
ibition. This form of therapy assumes that all prostaglandins have inf
lammatory action. This, however, is not true. The prostaglandins deriv
ed from arachidonic acid have inflammatory effects, but those from lin
oleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid are definitely anti-inflammatory.
Blanket prostaglandin inhibition, therefore, results in overkill. Phys
iological anti-inflammatory treatment decreases the levels of prostagl
andins derived from arachidonic acid by increasing those derived from
linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid. The same argument holds true for th
e leucotrienes which are, on average, more potent inflammatory or anti
-inflammatory mediators.