Effect of platelet-activating factor and serum-treated zymosan on prostaglandin E2 synthesis, arachidonic acid release, and contraction of cultured rat mesangial cells.

The interaction of inflammatory cells and glomerular prostaglandins (PG) may be important during glomerulonephritis. We therefore examined the influence of platelet-activating factor (PAF), (a mediator of inflammation released from leukocytes) and of phagocytosis of zymosan on arachidonic acid metabolism and on cell contractility in rat glomerular mesangial cells in culture. PAF increased PGE2 synthesis (determined by radioimmunoassay) within minutes (threshold: 10(-10)M; maximal effect: 10(-7)M). Serum-treated zymosan also stimulated PGE2, but with a slower onset. In cells prelabeled with [14C]arachidonic acid both PAF and serum-treated zymosan released 14C from phospholipids and increased free [14C]arachidonate. The ratio of 14C-release to PGE2 was, however, different with PAF and serum-treated zymosan, indicating different phospholipid pools. Under phase-contrast microscopy, PAF caused contraction of mesangial cells with a dose-response and time-course parallel to that for PGE2 synthesis. Serum-treated zymosan caused no contraction. The PAF-induced contraction was enhanced by PG synthesis inhibition and was attenuated by addition of PGE2, indicating a feedback mechanism. The mesangial contraction by PAF may be important in favoring deposition of immune complexes, while the PGE2 synthesis stimulated by PAF and by phagocytosis of zymosan may counteract the deleterious effects of PAF during induction of glomerulonephritis.