Platelet activating factor: regulation by mast cells and aspirin.

We have investigated some aspects of the regulation of production of rat platelet activating factor (PAF)2 in vitro. Suspensions of unseparated (PLC1), mast cell-depleted (PLC2), or mast cell (MC)-enriched rat peritoneal lavage cells (PLC) were analyzed for PAF content by extraction at alkaline pH. PAF activity extracted from PLC1 varied inversely with viable cell concentration: at 1 X 10(6) cells/ml, 32 +/- 9.3 PAF units, decreasing to 11.2 +/- 9.5 units at 10 X 10(6) cells/ml, and no activity at higher concentrations. Incubation of PLC1 in Tyrode's buffer or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), but not salicylate, resulted in a time-dependent loss of PAF activity. Mean PAF activity of PLC2 was similar to that in PLC1, while no PAF activity was extractable from MC. Co-incubation with MC extracts inhibited PAF activity of PLC1 extracts in a dose-dependent fashion. Ultracentrifugation of PAF-containing samples led to a loss of all PAF activity in PLC1 extracts, suggesting the association of PAF activity with subcellular components. PAF appears to be derived from a non-MC population of rat PLC, is not extractable from rat PLC in the presence of ASA and is inhibited by MC extracts. These studies suggest that ASA regulates PAF availability unrelated to its effect on cyclooxygenase and that MC membrane products directly inhibit PAF activity from rat PLC.