Metabolism of arachidonic acid in rabbit alveolar macrophages.

Rabbit alveolar macrophages incorporated radioactive arachidonic acid primarily into phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingomyelin, and triglycerides. When these cells, so labelled, were washed and treated with polystyrene beads, there was a distinct and reproducible decrease in the radioactivity of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and triglycerides. This decrease was accounted for by the appearance of two major prostaglandins, PGE2 and PGF2alpha, and uncharacterized hydroxy fatty acids, which may be 12-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, 5-hydroxy-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid, and/or 8-hydroxy-9,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid.