Effects of the oestrous cycle on the metabolism of arachidonic acid in rat isolated lung.

1. The metabolism of exogenous arachidonic acid perfused through the pulmonary circulation was investigated in lungs taken from rats at different stages of the oestrous cycle. 2. Following perfusion with [14C]arachidonic acid there was more radioactivity associated with cyclo-oxygenase products in general at pro-oestrus than at any other stage of the cycle. 3. Production of 6-oxo-prostaglandin F1 alpha and hence of prostacyclin (PGI2) was also highest at pro-oestrus. 4. Production of thromboxane B2 was highest at pro-oestrus although it was never greater than PGI2 production at any stage. 5. Radioactivity retained in lung tissue was mostly present in phospholipid and free fatty acid fractions with the distribution at pro-oestrus being different from the other stages. 6. Following perfusion with [14C]oleic acid (which is not a substrate for cyclooxygenase), variations in the distribution of label in radioactivity in lung were also observed. However, these were not related to the stages of the oestrous cycle in the same way as those associated with arachidonic acid. 7. We conclude that both pathways of arachidonic acid metabolism in lung--oxidation via cyclo-oxygenase and incorporation into phospholipid - are affected by the progress of the oestrous cycle. 8. Altered arachidonate metabolism appeared to be associated chiefly with pro-oestrus and may be linked to those hormones involved in this stage of the oestrous cycle.