[Arachidonic acid metabolism and angiotensin converting enzyme activity by cultured porcine pulmonary artery endothelial cells are affected with paraquat].

Paraquat is a herbicide known to cause pulmonary edema in its acute toxic phase. Many investigators showed that paraquat induces morphological changes of alveolar epithelial cells even in its early phase. Controversy still exists, however, as to whether pulmonary vascular endothelial cells are also morphologically vulnerable to paraquat. To test the direct toxicity and metabolic changes of pulmonary vascular endothelial cells after paraquat addition, porcine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PPAEC) were cultured. Thrombin- or bradykinin-stimulated PGI2 production was enhanced significantly, and the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity of cell lysate of PPAEC was significantly suppressed after a 24-hour incubation with 10(-4) M of paraquat. No further thrombin-induced enhancement of PGI2 production was noted after a 48-hour incubation. The alterations in arachidonic acid metabolism and ACE activity mentioned above did not result from cytotoxicity of paraquat because LDH release into culture medium was not increased during 72 hours of incubation with paraquat. Longer incubation more than 48 hours, in turn, induces obvious toxic effects on PPAEC.