Stimulation of release of prostaglandins and thromboxanes from isolated guinea pig lung cells by bradykinin, f-Met-Leu-Phe, phorbol myristate, ionophore A23187, and leukotrienes.

Guinea pig lungs were perfused for 15 min with a solution of protease type VII (0.05 mg/ml) and dispersed to yield a suspension of morphologically intact and metabolically active lung cells (over 250 X 10(6) cells per animal). The viability of these cells assessed with the Trypan blue exclusion technique was more than 80%. Treatment of these mixed cells (1 X 10(6) cells/ml) with chemicals such as phorbol myristate acetate (1 X 10(-9) to 1 X 10(-7) M), f-Met-Leu-Phe (5 X 10(-6) to 1 X 10(-4) M), and the calcium ionophore A23187 (3.1 X 10(-7) to 2.5 X 10(-6) M), and with autacoids such as bradykinin (1 X 10(-5) to 1 X 10(-4) M), leukotriene B4 (1 X 10(-13) to 1 X 10(-7) M), and leukotriene D4 (1 X 10(-10) to 1 X 10(-7) M) stimulated to a variable degree the release of prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane B2 (measured with a novel enzyme immunoassay). It is suggested that icosanoid release from the lungs is the result of direct chemical or hormonal stimulation of the cells and not a consequence of vascular changes. Studies are in progress to purify lung cell populations and characterize the cells responsible for the release of these icosanoids.