Effect of albumin-bound DHA on phosphoinositide phosphorylation in collagen stimulated human platelets

The effect of exogenous albumin-bound docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) (DHA), arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) (AA), and eicosapendaenoic acid (20:5n-3) (EPA) on phosphoinositide metabolism following collagen stimulation was studied using [3H]inositol prelabelled platelets. Collagen stimulation (3 min, 1.8 micrograms/ml) increased the labelling of both phosphatidylinositol 4-monophosphate (PIP), and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate (PIP2). Of the fatty acids tested, only pre-incubation (2 min) with DHA (20 microM) significantly attenuated the collagen-induced increased PIP and PIP2 labelling; EPA was without effect, while AA enhanced PIP labelling. Forty microM DHA was less effective at attenuating the increased PIP and PIP2 labelling even though this concentration of DHA resulted in greater inhibition of platelet aggregation. Neither concentration of DHA attenuated the increased polyphosphoinositide labelling resulting from stimulation by the endoperoxide analogue U46619, or the phorbol ester, PMA. These data suggest that the effect of DHA on attenuating the increased PIP and PIP2 labelling following collagen stimulation likely occurs before thromboxane receptor occupancy, may not occur at the level of protein kinase C activation, and could be mediated in part via a lessened synthesis of thromboxane A2.