Effect of cAMP on prostaglandin E2 production in cultured rat inner medullary collecting tubule cells.

Studies were performed to determine whether cAMP impairs prostaglandin (PG) E2 production in a homogeneous population of cultured rat inner medullary collecting duct cells. Three structurally different cAMP analogues were shown to decrease PGE2 synthesis by 48.4% in the basal state and by 49.3% in response to the divalent cation ionophore A23187 (5 microM). Thromboxane B2 production was similarly suppressed. An increase in endogenous cAMP by forskolin also decreased PGE2 synthesis. To determine the locus of the cAMP effect we examined the response to exogenously added arachidonic acid. At a concentration of arachidonic acid (5 micrograms/ml) sufficient to render the phospholipase-dependent fraction negligible (as evidenced by the lack of a mepacrine effect), cAMP had no effect on PGE2 production, suggesting phospholipase as the site of cAMP action. Further evidence for a phospholipase-mediated mechanism derives from studies employing [5,6,8,9,11,12,14,15-3H(N)]arachidonic acid in which cAMP analogues had no effect on the rate of cellular arachidonic acid incorporation, but did impair the release of tritiated arachidonic acid in response to ionophore. These results suggest the existence of a negative feedback system that, by impairing phospholipase activity and PGE2 synthesis, could enhance the action of cAMP in the antidiuretic state.