# Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Asthma

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2024 · $721,062

## Abstract

Abstract
The proposed experiments will test the hypothesis that specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) and
cysteinyl-containing SPMs (CysSPMs) are produced in the lung to counter-regulate pro-phlogistic responses
and to promote resolution of lung inflammation, in part via activation of a pro-resolving subset of eosinophils.
 Although we are accustomed to viewing the increase in airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness in
asthma as the result of an over-abundance of pro-inflammatory stimuli, the severity and duration of an asthma
exacerbation could also result from insufficient endogenous anti-inflammatory effectors. Cysteinyl leukotrienes
are well appreciated to play pro-phlogistic roles in asthma, but not all lipid mediators initiate inflammation.
There are now several families of specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM) that have been identified and
characterized in acute inflammation. These protective mediators are enzymatically derived from essential fatty
acids and serve as agonists at specific receptors to transduce cell type specific functional responses, including
in eosinophil subsets that are relevant in asthma. With several drugs already developed to block CysLT
formation or action, the notion that select endogenous lipid-derived mediators are generated to promote
resolution of asthmatic airway responses would turn conventional thinking on its head and identify CysSPMs
as natural pro-resolving mediators and novel templates for drug design.
 To test our hypothesis, we propose three specific aims to:
  Determine lung SPM and CysSPM production in acute and chronic allergic lung inflammation,
  Establish SPM and CysSPM actions in the resolution of lung inflammatory responses, and
  Define roles for lung eosinophil subsets in promoting inflammation resolution.
This proposal’s specific aims are directed towards uncovering basic mechanisms that govern the resolution of
allergic airway responses in health and disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10864835
- **Project number:** 5R01HL122531-08
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Bruce D Levy
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $721,062
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-05-20 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10864835

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10864835, Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediators in Asthma (5R01HL122531-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10864835. Licensed CC0.

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