A method of inhibiting the inflammatory process, the method comprising administering to a mammal suffering from inflammation a therapeutically effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compoundwhere:R is a C1-C10 alkylene group, in which, when the number of carbon atoms is at least 2, there are optionally 1 or 2 non-adjacent double bonds； 1 to 3 non-adjacent methylene groups are optionally replaced by NR1 (where R1 is H, alkyl, or acyl), O, or S； and 1 or 2 methylene groups are optionally replaced by a carbonyl or hydroxymethylene group and pharmaceutically acceptable esters or salts of the compounds and wherein the inflammatory process results from a disease selected from the group consisting of ulcerative colitis, endotoxic shock, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, gout, psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, vital or post-viral arthritis and ankylosing spondylarthritis.
