Differences in arachidonic acid release, metabolism and leukotriene B4 synthesis in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes activated by different stimuli.

Products of the 5-lipoxygenase pathway were analyzed after different stimuli in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes prelabeled with 3H-arachidonic acid. Upon stimulation with the Ca2+ ionophore, A23187, polymorphonuclear leukocytes generate 118.2 +/- 18 pg [3H]dihydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (diHETEs, including 3H-leukotriene B4 and its 6-trans-stereoisomers), after exposure to serum coated zymosan (35.8 +/- 9 pg) and N-fMet-Leu-Phe (39.5 +/- 9 pg). Conversion of 3H-arachidonic acid paralleled its release after A23187 and fMet-Leu-Phe exposure leaving only 13.8 +/- 7% and 13.6 +/- 3% of the released 3H-arachidonic acid unmetabolized, respectively. In contrast, after stimulation with serum-coated zymosan only a small fraction of the released 3H-arachidonate was converted to 5-lipoxygenase products leaving 73.0 +/- 5% of the released 3H-arachidonic acid unmetabolized. In parallel, leukotriene B4 synthesis was studied in unlabeled polymorphonuclear leukocytes, resulting in 40 +/- 15 ng upon A23187 stimulation, 4 +/- 0.9 ng upon stimulation with fMet-Leu-Phe and 1.8 +/- 0.9 ng after serum-coated zymosan, showing a different ratio of leukotriene B4 to 3H-diHETE for A23187 in contrast to serum-coated zymosan and fMet-Leu-Phe. These results indicate that the coupling between the release of the precursor fatty acid and the metabolism via the 5-lipoxygenase pathway differs greatly between different stimuli.