Natural 1-O-alkylglycerols reduce platelet-activating factor-induced release of [3H]-serotonin in rabbit platelets

Natural 1-O-alkylglycerols have multiple biological activities with distinct mechanisms. In THP-1 monocytes, they amplify platelet-activating factor production. In endothelial cells, they participate in the production of 1-O-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerol, a PKC inhibitor. Since PAF as well as PKC may interfere with platelet functions, we studied the effect of natural alkylglycerols purified from shark liver oil on [3H]-serotonin release from rabbit platelets in vitro. [3H]-alkylglycerols (1 microM) were consistently incorporated into platelet lipids and after a 2-h incubation, they were metabolised into phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol, which represented 53.5+/-1.7%, 36.3+/-1.8%, 5.3+/-0.5% of metabolised [3H]-alkylglycerols, respectively. Alkylglycerols (10 microM) had no effect on spontaneous [3H]-serotonin release. However, alkylglycerols partially inhibited PAF-induced [3H]-serotonin release while they did not modify thrombin-induced release. These data show that alkylglycerols inhibit partially and specifically PAF-induced platelet stimulation and suggest that this effect could result from interfering with PAF receptors.