PH80CH04-Rockson ARI 5 October 2017 8:0 Annual Review of Physiology Lymphatic Dysfunction, Leukotrienes, and Lymphedema Xinguo Jiang,1,2,∗ Mark R. Nicolls,1,2,∗ Wen Tian,1,2,∗ and Stanley G. Rockson2 1VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA 2Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Physiol. 2018. 80:4.1–4.21 Keywords The Annual Review of Physiology is online at leukotriene B4, 5-lipoxygenase, lymphedema physiol.annualreviews.org https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physiol-022516- Abstract 034008 The lymphatic system is essential for the maintenance of tissue fluid homeo- Copyright c 2018 by Annual Reviews. stasis, gastrointestinal lipid absorption, and immune trafficking. Whereas All rights reserved lymphatic regeneration occurs physiologically in wound healing and tissue ∗ Annu. Rev. Physiol. 2018.80. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org These authors contributed equally to this article repair, pathological lymphangiogenesis has been implicated in a number of chronic diseases such as lymphedema, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Insight into the regulatory mechanisms of lymphangiogenesis and the manner in which uncontrolled inflammation promotes lymphatic dysfunction is ur- gently needed to guide the development of novel therapeutics: These would be designed to reverse lymphatic dysfunction, either primary or acquired. Recent investigation has demonstrated the mechanistic role of leukotriene Access provided by Stanford University - Main Campus Robert Crown Law Library on 10/24/17. For personal use only. B4 (LTB4) in the molecular pathogenesis of lymphedema. LTB4, a product of the innate immune response, is a constituent of the eicosanoid inflam- matory mediator family of molecules that promote both physiological and pathological inflammation.