re = /([^\s]*\s*)\\rem\{(?:lp|db)\}(\{((?>[^{}]|\n|(?2))*)\})(\s?[^\s]*)/m
str = '
Some text etc word\\rem{lp}{ more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps}.
\\rem{lp}{ more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps
where more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps from
who more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps.}
\\rem{lp}{ more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps.
more text {\\ce{O2}} further text {\\ce{H2O}} . some other text the $m = 48$ ({\\ce{O2}}) ps.}
\\subsection{other}
Our bla bla bla'
subst = '$1\\\\textcolor{red}{\\\\underline{<<ReTe>>}}$4'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html