COX-2 in inflammation and resolution

Aspirin and the other NSAIDs have popularized the notion of inhibiting prostaglandins as a common anti-inflammatory strategy based on the erroneous premise that all eicosanoids are, within the context of inflammation, generally detrimental. However, our fascination with aspirin and the emergence of COX-2 has shown a more affable side to lipid mediators based on our increasing interest in the endogenous control of acute inflammation and in factors that mediate its resolution. Epi-lipoxins, for instance, are produced from aspirin's acetylation of COX-2 and together with Resolvins and COX-2-derived prostaglandins of the D-2 and J(2) series represent an increasingly important family of immunoregulatory lipid mediators with strong implications for disease control and drug discovery.