Many Different Eicosanoids

 The omega-6 HUFA, arachidonic acid. forms many different potent autacoids (auto=self; akos=healing) that bind to specific receptors and “fine tune” many different tissue functions. Excessive omega-6 eicosanoid actions contribute to tissue pathology. A similar set of eicosanoid autacoids are formed from the omega-3 HUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), but the omega-3 eicosanoids often have less vigorous physiologic impacts on tissues.

Both leukotriene (LT) and prostaglandin (PG) forms of eicosanoids are formed in various tissues when the tissue HUFA are mobilized. The relative proportions of omega-6 and omega-3 HUFA stored in and released from tissue membranes influence the relative intensity of an omega-6 eicosanoid response.