What SPM Are and How They Influence Your Everyday Mobility

SPM (Specialized Pro-resolving Mediators) are molecules your own body makes from omega-3 that give the closing signal once an inflammation has done its job. Over the years that production becomes less efficient — precisely when your joints need it most.

Getting up from a chair, climbing a flight of stairs, bending down to pick something up off the floor. These gestures are so ordinary that we rarely think about them until our joints start to complain. If you notice your knees, hips or hands no longer responding the way they used to, you are not alone: it is one of the most common complaints as the years go by, and it has a fairly specific biological explanation.

Why joints respond worse with age

What inflammaging is

As time passes, the body tends to maintain a low-grade, silent, constant level of inflammation that scientists call inflammaging — a term that joins the words inflammation and ageing. It is sometimes described as age-associated inflammation or chronic low-grade inflammation.

It is not the acute inflammation of a recent sprain, which arrives, does its work and leaves. It is an inflammatory background that settles in little by little and is barely noticeable.

The problem is not the inflammation — it is that it never closes

Here is the key that often goes unexplained: inflammation in itself is not the enemy. It is a defence mechanism, and a necessary one. The problem appears when the body cannot properly activate the mechanisms that bring that response to an end, and the inflammation drags on longer than it should.

Put another way: it is not that it switches on — it is that it fails to switch off.

What SPM are

SPM stands for Specialized Pro-resolving Mediators. They are molecules your own body manufactures to give the “ready to resolve” signal once an inflammation has served its purpose.

Their role was discovered by Dr Charles N. Serhan and his team at Harvard University, and it changed the way we understand the whole process: inflammation does not fade out on its own over time; it needs these molecules to activate the clean-up of the tissue and make way for repair. If you want the detail of how they differ from ordinary omega-3, we cover it in a separate article.

The four families: resolvins, protectins, maresins and lipoxins

The term SPM groups together four families of molecules, all derived from EPA and DHA:

• Resolvins: slow the arrival of further inflammatory cells to the area.
• Protectins: studied above all in nerve tissue and in cell-protection processes.
• Maresins: take part in the clean-up phase and in tissue regeneration.
• Lipoxins: the first to be identified, they act as a braking signal.

Why the body produces fewer SPM with age

The nuance that matters for joints is this: with age, the body’s capacity to produce SPM efficiently tends to decline. And it happens precisely when they are most needed.

It is not the only factor. Research also points to accumulated physical wear, sustained stress and a diet high in omega-6 and low in omega-3, because both compete for the same enzymes. In other words, you can be taking omega-3 and still have that final step running at half power.

What the research says about SPM and joint tissue

Research on SPM and joint health has grown considerably in recent years. It is worth distinguishing two levels, because they do not say the same thing.

What has been observed in the laboratory

A study published in Scientific Reports observed that SPM reduce inflammation markers and help slow cartilage degradation in laboratory models with human chondrocytes — that is, in cells cultured outside the body. It is an interesting result and explains the mechanism, but it does not translate directly to what happens in a person.

What has been observed in people

A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial published in Circulation Research showed that supplementation with a marine oil enriched in SPM and their precursors produces a measurable increase in their blood concentration, together with shifts in the immune response profile towards resolution.

Added to this is the GAUDI I study, conducted with Lipinova^® SPM in people with joint discomfort, in which supplementation was associated with improvements in the evaluated parameters of joint wellbeing, pain reduction of up to 45% and mobility.

What this means day to day

The biology is all very well, but what matters is the everyday. And the everyday is made of small gestures: less stiffness when getting up in the morning, not having to think twice before going down a flight of stairs, being able to stand and cook without looking for something to lean on.

None of those things depends on a single variable. Movement, rest, weight and diet all count — a lot. What the SPM approach brings is action on one specific piece of the puzzle: that closing process which becomes harder to complete with the years.

Why Active ProResolve is formulated with Lipinova^®

Active ProResolve is formulated with Lipinova^®, an ingredient that supplies SPM and their direct precursors, rather than depending solely on the body converting conventional omega-3 by itself. That conversion, as we said, becomes less efficient over the years.

The idea is not to “fight” the inflammation in your joints, but to give your body the support it needs to complete that resolution process which becomes harder to close with time. It is an approach designed precisely for people who notice their knees, hands or hips no longer keeping up the way they used to.

And as always with these things: if you take medication regularly or have any doubt about whether it suits you, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting.

What to remember

• With age, a low-grade inflammatory background settles in — inflammaging — resulting in degenerative changes to cartilage and other joint tissues.
• The problem is not that there is inflammation, but that the process never quite closes.
• SPM are the molecules that give that closing signal, and the body makes them less well as the years go by.
• Lipinova^® supplies SPM and their direct precursors, without depending on the conversion working well.
• Taking more omega-3 does not make up for that loss, because what fails is the conversion, not the starting amount.

Frequently asked questions