Release of platelet activating factor in rabbits with antibody-mediated injury of the lung: the role of leukocytes and of pulmonary endothelial cells.

This paper describes the release of platelet-activating factor (PAF) into the circulation of rabbits with acute pulmonary injury induced by antibody reacting with pulmonary endothelium. Eight rabbits were injected i.v. with 2 mg/kg of body weight of goat anti-rabbit lung angiotensin-converting enzyme gamma-globulin (GtARbACE). All animals developed acute pneumonitis, characterized by severe endothelial damage, accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and platelets (Plt) in the lumina of alveolar capillaries, and deposits of goat IgG and rabbit C3 along alveolar capillary walls. Six of the rabbits died from acute pulmonary edema. PAF was detected in the plasma of all animals within 5 min after injection of GtARbACE. Five other rabbits were depleted of leukocytes by nitrogen mustard and then injected with 2 mg/kg of body weight of GtARbACE. In three of these rabbits release of PAF was demonstrated, though in amounts smaller than in non-leukocyte-depleted rabbits; all three animals died from pulmonary edema. After injection of 0.03 mg/kg of body weight of GtARbACE in six additional rabbits, three of them leukocyte-depleted, small amounts of PAF were detected in the circulation. None of these six rabbits died of pulmonary edema. PAF release was not observed in ten rabbits injected i.v. with 2 or 0.03 mg/kg of body weight of normal goat gamma-globulin. In separate experiments in vitro, incubation of isolated lung or thoracic aorta with GtARbACE resulted in deposits of goat IgG along endothelia and significant release of PAF. PAF was also released from endothelial cells removed from thoracic aorta by cellulose acetate paper and then incubated with GtARbACE. When segments of thoracic aorta were stripped of endothelium and then incubated with GtARbACE, PAF release could not be shown. The data obtained are consistent with the interpretation that PAF released into the circulation after binding of GtARbACE to the endothelia of lung and aorta originates from leukocytes and from lung and thoracic aorta endothelial cells.