Arachidonic acid potentiates superoxide anion radical production by murine peritoneal macrophages stimulated with tumor promoters.

The role of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism in the stimulation of oxygen radical production by murine peritoneal macrophages treated with tumor promoters was assessed. In vivo administration of the phospholipase A2 inhibitor dibromacetophenone, the anti-inflammatory steroid fluocinolone acetonide or the lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydroguiaretic acid just prior to i.p. injection of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA, 100 ng) into unmanipulated CD-1 female mice resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in the number of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) producing superoxide anion radical (O2) as assessed by the reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium, i.e. the formation of formazan-positive PEC. The cycloxygenase inhibitor indomethacin had no effect on the number of formazan-positive PEC caused by PMA treatment. The ability of PMA, phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate mezerein, phorbol-12,13-diacetate and 4-O-Me-PMA to stimulate the production of oxygen radicals by murine peritoneal macrophages correlated with their ability to stimulate the release of [3H]AA equivalents from the macrophages. The calcium ionophore A23187 which stimulated significant [3H]AA equivalent release did not stimulate superoxide anion radical production by the macrophages. PMA administered i.p. to SENCAR mice increased the number of formazan-positive PEC 4-to 5-fold compared with similarly treated C57BL/6 mice. PMA also stimulated the release of twice the amount of [3H]AA equivalents from peritoneal macrophages from SENCAR mice compared with that released by macrophages from C57BL/6 mice. The addition of low concentrations of AA (1-10 microM) in vitro to casein-elicited murine peritoneal macrophages treated with low concentrations of PMA (1 ng/ml) resulted in a 2-fold potentiation of the amount of superoxide anion radical produced compared with PMA treatment alone as assessed by the reduction of cytochrome c. These results demonstrate that AA and/or a lipoxygenase product can potentiate the production of oxygen radicals by murine peritoneal macrophages treated with tumor promoters.