"Aspirin is now known to target COX,"
More pieces in the puzzle much of which is beyond my comprehension, and at its root the balance between omega three six, the eicosanoid pathway, cox 2 ----.
AND first an interesting and almost comrehensible summary of some of the realated mechanism ESSENTIAL BROWSING.
RB
http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:...ient=firefox-a
http://www.spineuniverse.com/display...ticle1690.html
ABSTRACT
Milestones in eicosanoid research
In the 1930s, researchers in the United States and Sweden independently reported that compounds found in human semen had smooth muscle contraction and vasopressor properties. From their origin, von Eular called these compounds prostaglandins.(7) The biochemistry of prostaglandins remained elusive for 3 decades, primarily due to their paucity and instability. Elucidation of related biosynthetic pathways by Hamberg and Samuelsson in 1967 led to recognition of an abundance of biologically active compounds.(8) In 1971, Vane showed that aspirin could inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins.(4) Aspirin is now known to target COX, a prostaglandin synthase responsible for the bicyclic endoperoxidation of fatty acids to prostaglandins. An additional pathway in eicosanoid metabolism was found to be mediated by lipoxygenases, resulting in the elucidation of the leukotriene-related pathways in the 1980s and the lipoxins in the 1990s.(9) Together, the prostaglandins, leukotrienes, lipoxins, and related compounds are known to occupy a crucial role in many biologic processes, giving the eicosanoids prominence in modern pharmacology and medicine.