RESUMEN
Twenty years ago, some foreign-investigators reported that omega-hydroxylation of arachidonic acid (AA) was catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 enzymes in some tissue to 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE). As a second messenger, it plays a pivotal role in the regulation of vascular tone, renal function, cerebral blood flow and lung vasodilator. Exogenous administeration of 20-HETE also plays an important role in the regulation of the coronary circulation. Moreover, hypertension, toxemia of pregnancy and other diseases is related to the formation of the 20-HETE. However, there is few domestic report about 20-HETE. Therefore, the domestic investigators should be given attention to 20-HETE adequately in the future. In this paper, roles of 20-HETE on physiologic and pathologic regulation in organism were reviewed.