Metabolism of 5-hydroxyicosatetraenoate by human neutrophils: production of a novel omega-oxidized derivative.

Human neutrophils incorporated 5-hydroxy-E,Z,Z,Z-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE) into cellular triglyceride and phospholipid. They also metabolized 5-HETE into a novel, extracellularly released derivative, 5,20-dihydroxy-E,Z,Z,Z-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5,20-diHETE). 5,20-diHETE formation predominated at higher substrate concentrations and longer incubation intervals. In the absence of added 5-HETE, 1 X 10(8) neutrophils stimulated with 20 microM ionophore A23187 produced up to 243 ng of 5,20-diHETE, indicating that both endogenously formed and exogenously added substrate could be oxidized at carbon 20. 5,20-diHETE was about 10- to 100-fold weaker than 5-HETE in enhancing human neutrophil degranulation responses to platelet-activating factor. omega-Oxidation appears to be a general enzymatic mechanism for inactivation of arachidonic acid metabolites.