New directions in prostaglandin research and their possible implications for immunologic and nonimmunologic inflammation.

New information on prostaglandins and related structures derived from arachidonic acid is accumulating rapidly. Of particular interest is evidence for the existence of labile, highly biologically active, nonprostanoate derivatives. A role for the classic prostaglandins in immunologic inflammation is already strongly suspected, and it seems likely that the newly recognized arachidonic acid metabolites may prove to be even more important.