Supplementation of the diet with eicosapentaenoic acid: a possible approach to the treatment of thrombosis and inflammation.

Metabolites of arachidonic acid (the general term ‘eicosanoids’ will be used in this article) have biological activities that suggest that they could influence some pathophysiological events. In this brief review only their role in thrombosis and inflammation will be considered. Another C,, fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), is a poor substrate for some enzymes which efficiently transform arachidonic acid (AA). Some EPA metabolites have different quantitative and qualitative activities from those derived from AA. These findings have led to speculation that supplementation of the diet with EPA could be beneficial in the treatment or prevention of thrombosis and inflammation, or both. In the following sections the evidence for this hypothesis will be examined.