Production of prostaglandin E2 rather than E1 in experimental ocular inflammation of rabbit

The chopped anterior uvea of rabbit was allowed to react with exogenous [1-14C] arachidonic acid or prostaglandin (PG)H2. Several cyclooxygenase products such as PGD2, PGE2 and PGF2 alpha were produced. In the presence of glutathione PGE2 was a major product. When uveitis was induced by injection of bovine serum albumin into the vitreous body, there was a marked invasion of leukocytes. PGE2 in the aqueous humor increased about 3-fold as determined by radioimmunoassay using anti-PGE2 antibody cross-reacting with PGE1. Extracts from the inflamed aqueous humor and the incubation medium of chopped anterior uvea or peripheral polymorphonuclear leukocytes were analyzed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, which allowed separation of PGE2 and PGE1. In all these preparations PGE2 was an almost sole immunoreactive PG, and PGE1 was hardly detectable in sharp contrast to an earlier report (Eakins et al.: Nature 239: 248 (1972].