Roles of leukotrienes in two rat allergic inflammatory models; IgE-mediated and IgG-antigen complex-induced pleurisies.

Rat IgE pleurisy was induced by the injection of di-nitrophenol-conjugated bovine serum albumin (DNP-BSA) 48 hours after the intrapleural injection of rat anti-DNP-IgE serum. IgG-BSA complex pleurisy was also induced by the intrapleural injection of IgG-BSA complexes produced at the optimum ratio in vitro. Plasma exudation was markedly increased in the first 20 minutes, but not observed thereafter, in IgE pleurisy, whereas marked plasma exudation in the first 20 minutes was followed by weak exudation at three and five hours in IgG-BSA complex pleurisy. Leukotrienes (LTs) E4 (100 ng/rat), D4 (32) and B4 (16) were detected on HPLC in the pleural exudate in the first 20 minutes of IgG-BSA complex pleurisy, but less (9 ng/rat) LTE4 alone was detected in the five-hour exudate. The first 20-minute pleural exudate contained 13 ng/rat of LTE4 in IgE pleurisy. The plasma was completely inhibited by simultaneous treatment of rats with pyrilamine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) and methysergide (3 mg/kg, i.p.), as it was in compound 48/80-induced pleurisy. In IgG-BSA complex pleurisy, 90% of the pleural exudate for the first 20 minutes was inhibited by the same treatment, and the rest was completely suppressed by simultaneous treatment with an intrapleural injection of AA-1777, a selective 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor. AA-1777 alone did not reduce the plasma exudation significantly. The 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor was also very effective in reducing the migrating numbers of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear leukocytes to half, without affecting the eosinophils of mast cells.