Leukotriene C4 metabolism by hepatoma cells and liver

The metabolism of the glutathionyl leukotriene LTC4 in the mercapturic acid pathway was studied in suspensions of AS-30D hepatoma cells and hepatocytes, as well as in vivo in the bile duct-cannulated rat and in primates. 1. Isolated hepatocytes actively took up cysteinyl leukotrienes and metabolized LTC4 not only to LTD4 and LTE4 but also to N-acetyl-LTE4 and to metabolites more polar than LTC4. 2. AS-30D hepatoma cells are deficient in the transport system for the uptake of cysteinyl leukotrienes. Peptide cleavage of LTC4 to LTD4 and LTE4 was catalyzed by ectoenzymes of these cells. Inactivation of gamma-glutamyltransferase by acivicin and inhibition of LTD4 dipeptidase by penicillamine largely prevented further catabolism of LTC4 and LTD4, respectively. 3. [3H]LTC4 injected i.v. into rats was rapidly eliminated from the circulating blood, taken up by the liver, and excreted into bile where 77% of the administered radioactivity was recovered within 1 hr. The biliary LTC4 metabolites included LTD4, N-acetyl-LTE4, and metabolites more polar than LTC4. 4. Inhibition of [3H]LTC4 metabolism in vivo by i.v. penicillamine shifted the pattern of biliary cysteinyl leukotrienes; an extended half-life of [3H]LTD4 was associated with a retarded formation of N-acetyl-LTE4 and of polar metabolites. 5. Endogenous cysteinyl leukotrienes elicited by trauma were measured after HPLC separation by radioimmunologic analysis in plasma and bile of rats. The biliary concentration of these leukotrienes was up to 100 times as great as in plasma. N-Acetyl-LTE4 was the predominant endogenous metabolite in rat bile. 6. In the monkey Macaca fascicularis, cysteinyl leukotrienes were predominantly eliminated from blood via the liver into bile; renal excretion amounted to about 50% of the hepatobiliary elimination. Absorption of cysteinyl leukotrienes from the intestine resulted in enterohepatic circulation of these mediators. 7. Metabolites of [3H]LTC4 injected i.v. in the monkey were analyzed in bile and urine. In addition to polar metabolites and a small percentage of [3H]LTD4, [3H]LTE4 was a predominant metabolite particularly in bile. LTE4 was also the major endogenous cysteinyl leukotriene detected by radioimmunologic analysis in monkey bile. 8. LTE4 was the predominant endogenous cysteinyl leukotriene measured in human bile in patients suffering from acute pancreatitis. The detected amounts of LTE4 may be sufficient to induce known phenomena associated with acute pancreatitis including the shock-like reaction.