Leukotrienes and other lipoxygenase products of arachidonic acid synthesized in the kidney.

Lipoxygenase products are synthesized in the kidney. Rabbit medulla and murine and human glomeruli produce 12- and 15-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (HETE). Minor amounts of leukotrienes are formed under normal conditions, but it is likely that the resident renal cells are capable of synthesizing these metabolites. Rat glomeruli and papillae possess the enzymes necessary to process leukotriene C4 into leukotrienes D4 and E4. However, the enzyme activity of the papillae is masked due to the presence of an inhibitor detected in the 10,000 g supernate of the papillary homogenate. 12-HETE synthesis is markedly increased in glomeruli from rats with nephrotoxic serum nephritis and leukotriene B4 synthesis in glomeruli from rats with cationic bovine gamma-globulin-induced glomerulonephritis. In vivo consequences of the association between the resident glomerular cells and the bone marrow-derived cells have been studied in vitro in co-incubation experiments. Glomeruli release factors that stimulate the cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways in macrophages. Co-incubation of glomeruli, platelets, and polymorphonuclear leukocytes results in the formation of 12,20-diHETE and an excess of 12-HETE. Lipoxygenase products, regardless of their origin, modify the renal functions. Leukotriene C4 binds specifically to rat glomeruli and human cultured glomerular epithelial cells. Leukotrienes C4 or D4 administered in vivo cause renal vasoconstriction and a decline in the glomerular filtration rate. In vitro, these two sulfidopeptide leukotrienes promote epithelial cell proliferation and produce mesangial cell contraction. The lipoxygenase pathway is also implicated in the attachment of macrophages to glomeruli and in the oxidative burst of glomerular mesangial cells during phagocytosis. The future use of specific inhibitors of the synthesis or antagonists of the lipoxygenase products, particularly the leukotrienes, should provide a tool for evaluating the role of these metabolites in renal diseases.