Effect of ethanol on the arachidonic acid metabolism in mouse peritoneal macrophages

Macrophages play an important role in the development of chronic inflammatory states. Ethanol has been shown to impair a number of membrane-linked phenomena. The synthesis and secretion of oxygenated metabolites of arachidonic acid is triggered at the cytoplasma membrane level. The present study was carried out in order to investigate the effect of ethanol on the arachidonic acid metabolism in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Two types of experiments were performed: with endogenous radiolabeled arachidonic acid and with exogenously added radiolabeled arachidonic acid. Our data show that ethanol in vitro activates the release of arachidonic acid from intracellular pools, while the proportion of endogenous substrate metabolized in the presence of ethanol is similar to that in controls. From the exogenous it seems clear that ethanol induces different effects depending whether the arachidonic acid is endogenous or added exogenously.