leukotriene

noun

leu·​ko·​tri·​ene ˌlü-kō-ˈtrī-ˌēn 

: any of a group of eicosanoids that participate in allergic responses (such as bronchial constriction)

Examples of leukotriene in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These medications block leukotrienes—chemicals your body produces when it’s exposed to allergens—from binding to your cells. —Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2024

What leukotriene modifiers such as Singulair are not supposed to do is cross the blood-brain barrier. —Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2024

Other protiens found in their saliva, such as tryptase and leukotrienes, can directly cause itchiness. —Emily Shiffer, Health, 7 Mar. 2023

The risk was lower in people who took a drug that blocked leukotrienes. —Stacey Burling, Philly.com, 8 June 2018

The Temple researchers tried the drug because of their previous work on leukotrienes, inflammatory molecules that don’t work properly in Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal dementia. —Stacey Burling, Philly.com, 8 June 2018

Leukotrienes are similar to histamine, but 100 to 1,000 times more potent in the lung than a similar weight of histamine. —Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 21 June 2017

The scientists found that the drug prevented tissue injury and fluid buildup by blocking a protein called leukotriene B4 (LTB4). —Amy Norton, chicagotribune.com, 11 May 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

leukotriene

noun

leu·​ko·​tri·​ene ˌlü-kə-ˈtrī-ˌēn 

: any of a group of eicosanoids that are generated in basophils, mast cells, macrophages, and human lung tissue by lipoxygenase-catalyzed oxygenation especially of arachidonic acid and that participate in allergic responses (as bronchoconstriction in asthma) see slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis