Prostaglandin profile and synthetic capacity of the colon: comparison of tissue sources and subcellular fractions.

Although there has been intense interest in the physiology and pathophysiology of prostaglandins (PGs) synthesized in the colon, little is known about the PG profile and synthetic capacity of different tissue sources and subcellular fractions as enzyme sources. Subcellular fractions prepared from the mucosa and muscle layer of rat colon were incubated with or without exogenous arachidonic acid ([3H]20:4n-6) for 30 min. In experiments with exogenous [3H]20:4n-6, the prostaglandin synthetic capacity of the colonic muscle layer was significantly higher than that of the mucosa. Among the subcellular fractions, microsomes had the highest PG synthetic capacity in both mucosa and muscle. The major PG product was PGI2 and PGD2 in the mucosal microsomes and PGI2 and PGE2 in the muscularis microsomes. However, production of PGI2 in the mucosa and PGE2 in the muscle was significantly reduced in the fractions containing both cytosol and microsome, resulting in an alteration of the PG profile. Substrate availability (exogenous vs endogenous supply) appears to influence the PG profile of the colon. In the colonic mucosa with exogenous [3H]20:4n-6, the production of PGI2 was 5 times higher than that of PGE2, whereas the production of PGE2 was twice higher than that of PGI2 in experiments with endogenous 20:4n-6. These observations indicate: 1) different PG profile and synthetic capacity of tissue sources and subcellular fractions; 2) alteration of PG profile due to the variation of 20:4n-6 availability. Thus, the outcome of experiments on the physiological role of PG in the colon may be determined, in part, by the tissue source and subcellular fraction selected for analysis. The present study also suggests that the variation of substrate availability in physiological and pathophysiological processes may affect the PG profile of the colon.