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Influence of eicosanoid lipid mediators on macrophage innate immune functions

Published on March 5, 2014   60 min

A selection of talks on Immunology

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0:00
This is Marc Peters-Golden from the University of Michigan. And I'm going to speak to you about the influence of Eicosanoid Lipid Mediators on macrophage innate immune functions.
0:12
When we think about paradigms to explain innate immunity, the dominant paradigm sitting at the center of the universe is what I've termed the land of cytokines. A recent PubMed search on cytokines and infection yielded more than 66,000 references. By contrast, out in the corner of the universe sits a much smaller planet which I've termed the land of lipid mediators. In a recent PubMed search of lipid mediators and infection yielded just about 1,600 references. So as you can see, lipid mediators are much less well studied in host defense than our cytokines.
0:55
Let's look more closely at the land of lipid mediators. One particular family of lipid mediators that is going to be our focus today are eicosanoids. Eicosa is Greek for 20. The term eicosanoids is used to refer to an entire family of oxygenated metabolites of the 20 carbon parent fatty acid, arachidonic acid. The best known eicosanoids are prostaglandins and leukotrienes. These are lipid mediators which are important participants in many physiologic processes as well as pathophysiologic processes, such as inflammation, fever, and pain. Also, eicosanoids are targets for the actions of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, leukotriene modifiers that are used in the treatment of asthma, and omega 3 fatty acids.

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