Controlling arachidonic acid metabolic network: from single- to multi-target inhibitors of key enzymes

Inflammatory diseases are common medical conditions seen in disorders of human immune   system.  There is a great demand for anti-inflammatory drugs.  There are major inflammatory mediators in  arachidonic acid metabolic network.  Several enzymes in this network have been used as key targets for the  development of anti-inflammatory drugs.  However, specific single-target inhibitors can not sufficiently control the network balance and may cause side effects at the same time.  Most inflammation induced diseases come from the complicated coupling of inflammatory cascades involving multiple targets.  In order to treat these complicated diseases, drugs that can intervene multi-targets at the same time attracted much attention.  The  goal of this review is mainly focused on the key enzymes in arachidonic acid metabolic network, such as   phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenase, 5-lipoxygenase and eukotriene A4 hydrolase.  Advance in single target and multi-targe inhibitors is summarized.