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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 16, 2016; 4(7): 155-164
Published online Jul 16, 2016. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i7.155
Resolvins and omega three polyunsaturated fatty acids: Clinical implications in inflammatory diseases and cancer
Kazuki Moro, Masayuki Nagahashi, Rajesh Ramanathan, Kazuaki Takabe, Toshifumi Wakai
Kazuki Moro, Masayuki Nagahashi, Toshifumi Wakai, Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata City 951-8510, Japan
Rajesh Ramanathan, Kazuaki Takabe, Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Massey Cancer Center, Richmond, VA 23298-0011, United States
Author contributions: Moro K, Nagahashi M and Takabe K contributed to this work, generated the figures and wrote the manuscript; Ramanathan R proofread English writing; Wakai T designed the aim of the editorial.
Supported by The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Nos. 15H05676 and 15K15471 for Nagahashi M and No. 15H04927 for Wakai T; Nagahashi M is supported by the Uehara Memorial Foundation, Nakayama Cancer Research Institute, Takeda Science Foundation, and Tsukada Medical Foundation; Takabe K is supported by NIH/NCI, No. R01CA160688; Takabe K is supported by Susan G. Komen Investigator Initiated Research, No. IIR12222224; Moro K and Nagahashi M are supported by Tohoku Cancer Professional Training Promotion Plan.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest in association with the present study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Masayuki Nagahashi, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata City 951-8510, Japan. mnagahashi@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-25-2272228 Fax: +81-25-2270779
Received: January 7, 2016
Peer-review started: January 9, 2016
First decision: March 1, 2016
Revised: March 14, 2016
Accepted: April 5, 2016
Article in press: April 6, 2016
Published online: July 16, 2016
Abstract

Inflammation is a central process in several disorders and contributes to cancer progression. Inflammation involves a complex cascade of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signaling events with protein and lipid mediators. Recent advances in lipid detection have revealed the importance of lipid mediators in inflammation. Omega three polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFA) are found naturally in fish oil and have been extensively studied in multiple inflammatory diseases with improved outcomes. Resolvins are thought to be the active metabolites of ω-3 PUFA, and are responsible for facilitating the resolving phase of acute inflammation. Clinically, resolvins have been associated with resolution of acute kidney injury and acute lung injury, micro and macro vascular response to injury, and inhibition of microglia-activated inflammation in neurodegenerative disorders. In addition to inflammatory diseases, ω-3 PUFA and resolvins appear to modulate cancer progression. ω-3 PUFA intake has been associated with reduced inflammation in colorectal cancer, and favorable phenotype in breast cancer. Resolvins offer promising therapeutic potential as they may modulate inflammation with minimal side-effects, in contrast to currently available anti-inflammatory medications. This review describes the roles of ω-3 PUFA and resolvins in the inflammatory cascade, various inflammatory diseases, and specific cancers. Additionally, it will discuss the clinical therapeutic potential of resolvins as targets in inflammatory diseases and cancers.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory lipid mediators, Resolvin, Omega three polyunsaturated fatty acids, Inflammatory diseases, Cancer

Core tip: There is general consensus that inflammation closely relates not only with inflammatory diseases, but also cancer. Recently several lipid mediators, such as resolvins, were found to be pro-resolving mediators that facilitate the resolution of acute inflammation and help to prevent excessive inflammation. Thus, it is speculated that resolvins may have anti-inflammatory therapeutic potential. Here we review the roles of resolvins in inflammation and inflammatory diseases and explore the potential of lipid mediators for clinical application.