Arachidonic acid metabolites and small airways disease in non-smoking sarcoidosis patients.

The present study was designed to assess the occurrence of small airways disease (SAD) in non-smoking sarcoidosis patients by pulmonary function measurement; and to investigate the possible mechanisms of SAD by measuring the in vitro production of arachidonic acid metabolites (PGE2 and LTB4) by peripheral blood mononucleocytes from sarcoidosis patients. SAD did in fact occur in 15 of the 32 sarcoid patients studied. The increase in LTB4 and decrease in PGE2 observed in SAD patients could imply a causative role for these arachidonic acid metabolites in SAD.