Characterization of a novel arachidonic acid-derived neutrophil chemoattractant.

The oxidation of arachidonic acid in a superoxide-generating environment results in the formation of a potent chemoattractant that appears to be identical to a chemotactic material generated by hepatocytes when they metabolize alcohol. The product was extracted, chromatographed and characterized by physical methods including GC/MS. The physical properties are consistant with the parent structure: 19-hydroperoxy, 20-hydroxyarachidic acid. This novel saturated 20 carbon product, derived from arachidonic acid by free radical-generating reactions, may play a role in the neutrophilic infiltration observed during the course of acute alcoholic hepatitis.