Inflammation is the defensive reaction system that occurs when the body
receives a harmful stimulus and tries to remove it. In general, the area where the
reaction occurs has a fever, swelling, redness, and pain. The stimuli that cause
inflammation are diverse but include UV irradiation and reactive oxygen species. This
chapter briefly describes the inflammatory response pathways caused by these stimuli.
After that, it outlines the effects of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) on the
accumulation, activity, and regulation of factors contained in the inflammatory
pathway. Although research findings are accumulating, the molecular mechanisms are
still unknown. Details of the relationship between the molecular structures of MAAs
and their functions in the inflammatory pathway await further study.
Keywords: Antioxidant, Cyclooxygenase-2, Interleukin-1, Interleukin-6, Inducible NO synthase, Inflammation, Inhibitor protein of NF-κB, Lipopolysaccharides, Mycosporine-like amino acid, Nuclear factor-kappa B, Nitrogen monoxide, Prostaglandin E2 , Reactive oxygen species, Tumor necrosis factor α, Ultraviolet.
