Leukotrienes and Other Products of the 5-Lipoxygenase Pathway: Biochemistry and Relation to Pathobiology in Human Diseases
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Lewis, Robert A.; Austen, Frank K.; Soberman, Roy J.
- Source
- The New England Journal of Medicine. Sep 06, 1990 323(10):645-655
- Subject
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0028-4793
THE slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis was recognized as a discrete biologic entity three to four decades before it was chemically defined as three specific cysteinyl leukotriene products of the 5-lipoxygenase pathway. In the interim, it was hypothesized that this moiety might function as a proinflammatory mediator of bronchoconstriction and vasopermeability in diseases of immediate hypersensitivity. Since the chemical characterization of the slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis as several cysteinyl leukotrienes and the identification and biochemical assessment of the enzymes in the 5-lipoxygenase pathway (Fig. 1 and Glossary), the products of this pathway have been implicated in a much broader variety of functions …