Estrogen pretreatment increases arachidonic acid release by bradykinin stimulated normal human osteoblast-like cells.

Eicosanoids are multifunctional autocrine/paracrine regulators of bone that are enzymatically derived from arachidonic acid (AA). The rate-limiting step in the eicosanoid biosynthetic pathways may be the release of AA from membrane glycerophospholipids by activated phospholipases. Free AA can serve as the substrate for cyclooxygenase(s) or lipoxygenases that catalyze the commitive steps in eicosanoid synthesis; alternatively, free AA may be used in reacylation processes, resulting in its reincorporation into cellular lipids. The hormones 17 beta-estradiol (17 beta-E2), dexamethasone (a synthetic glucocorticoid), and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) have been identified as regulators of AA metabolism, at various levels, in several tissues including bone. The possibility that these osteotropic steroids modulate the availability of free AA in bone cells was studied in the human osteoblast-like (hOB) cell model system. Following a 48-h steroid pretreatment, bradykinin or the calcium ionophore A23187 were used as agonists to stimulate hOB cell release of AA. The principal findings from these investigations were that (1) 17 beta-E2 pretreatment potentiated the appearance of free AA following bradykinin stimulation of the cells but, did not alter their response to A23187 stimulation; (2) dexamethasone pretreatment limited bradykinin-induced increases in free AA levels but did not alter cell response to A23187 stimulation; (3) hOB cells derived from different trabecular bone compartments (manubrium of the sternum, femoral head) differed quantitatively in their responses to bradykinin stimulation of AA release; and (4) 1,25(OH)2D3 did not effect AA release stimulated by either agonist. The ability of the steroids to modulate AA release by hOB cells suggests that these hormones may indirectly mediate bone cell responses to other osteotropic hormones that act through eicosanoid-dependent processes.