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Review
. 2020 Dec 31;22(1):384.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22010384.

Chronic Inflammation in PCOS: The Potential Benefits of Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators (SPMs) in the Improvement of the Resolutive Response

Pedro-Antonio Regidor  1 , Anna Mueller  2 , Manuela Sailer  2 , Fernando Gonzalez Santos  3 , Jose Miguel Rizo  4 , Fernando Moreno Egea  3
Affiliations
Review

Chronic Inflammation in PCOS: The Potential Benefits of Specialized Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators (SPMs) in the Improvement of the Resolutive Response

Pedro-Antonio Regidor et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

PCOS as the most common endocrine disorder of women in their reproductive age affects between 5-15 % of the female population. Apart from its cardinal symptoms, like irregular and anovulatory cycles, hyperandrogenemia and a typical ultrasound feature of the ovary, obesity, and insulin resistance are often associated with the disease. Furthermore, PCOS represents a status of chronic inflammation with permanently elevated levels of inflammatory markers including IL-6 and IL-18, TNF-α, and CRP. Inflammation, as discovered only recently, consists of two processes occurring concomitantly: active initiation, involving "classical" mediators including prostaglandins and leukotrienes, and active resolution processes based on the action of so-called specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs). These novel lipid mediator molecules derive from the essential ω3-poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) DHA and EPA and are synthesized via specific intermediates. The role and benefits of SPMs in chronic inflammatory diseases like obesity, atherosclerosis, and Diabetes mellitus has become a subject of intense research during the last years and since PCOS features several of these pathologies, this review aims at summarizing potential roles of SPMs in this disease and their putative use as novel therapeutics.

Keywords: PCOS; inflammation; obesity; specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs).

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Conflict of interest statement

Pedro-Antonio Regidor is employee of Exeltis Healthcare, Anna Müller and Manuela Sailer are emploeyees of Exeltis Germany, Fernando Gonzalez Santos is employee of Solutex Spain, Jose Miguel Rizo is employee of Chemo Spain, Fernando Moreno Egea is CEO of Solutex Spain.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biosynthesis of the SPMs Resolvins, Protectins and Maresins. EPA; Eicosapentaenoic Acid; 18-HpEPE, 17-HpDHA, 14-HPDHA: precursors of the SPMs during biosynthesis; Cox-1/2: Cyclooxygenases. ASS triggers biosynthesis of 18-HpEPE, 17-HpDHA intermediates via modification of Cox-enzymes. Maresins are produced by macrophages via a preliminary lipoxygenation step. Further lipoxygenases are required for SPM biosynthesis as depicted in Figure 1 [25].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Time course of the potential development of inflammatory responses [22].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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