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The n-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4n-6) gives rise to eicosanoid mediators that have established roles in inflammation and AA metabolism is a long recognised target for commonly used anti-inflammatory therapies. It has generally been assumed that all AA-derived eicosanoids are pro-inflammatory. However this is an over-simplification since some actions of eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory (e.g. prostaglandin (PG) E₂ inhibits production of some inflammatory cytokines) and it has been discovered quite recently that PGE₂ inhibits production of inflammatory leukotrienes and induces production of inflammation resolving lipoxin A₄. The n-3 fatty acids from oily fish and “fish oils”, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3), are incorporated into inflammatory cell phospholipids in a time- and dose-dependent manner. They are incorporated partly at the expense of AA, but …