Incorporation of arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid into phospholipids by polymorphonuclear leukocytes in vitro.

The present study demonstrated that the patterns of the incorporation of [1-14C] arachidonic acid and [1-14C] eicosapentaenoic acid into individual phospholipids by polymorphonuclear leukocytes were similar. However, human leukocytes exhibited higher activity than guinea pig peritoneal leukocytes in the formation of arachidonoyl- and eicosapentaenoyl-phosphatidic acid. Cells from both origins showed a decrease of label in phosphatidylcholine accompanied by an increase of label in phosphatidylethanolamine after a longer period (30-120 min) of incubation, suggesting that part of the arachidonoyl or eicosapentaenoyl moiety in phosphatidylethanolamine may be derived from that of phosphatidylcholine. The observed difference between human cells and elicited cells in the timecourse of the incorporation of both fatty acids into phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine appears to be due to different contents of the diacyl and ether-linked class compositions of these phospholipids in cells from different origins. Both labeled fatty acids were incorporated more rapidly into the diacyl-linked class, but were retained to a greater extent in alkylacyl-phosphatidylcholine and alkenylacyl-phosphatidylethanolamine. The data suggest that, in addition to alkylacylphosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylinositol, alkenylacyl-phosphatidylethanolamine may be an important endogenous source of arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in stimulated human leukocytes.