When bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells are cultured in a medium supplemented with linoleic acid, their capacity to produce prostacyclin (PGI2) is reduced by about 60%. This reduction occurs when PGI2 formation is stimulated by the addition of either the calcium ionophore A23187 or arachidonic acid. In addition, supplementation with linoleic acid reduced the production of prostaglandin E...

The Kv4 subfamily of voltage-gated potassium channels is responsible for the transient A-type potassium current that operates at subthreshold membrane potentials to control membrane excitability. Arachidonic acid was shown recently to modulate both the peak amplitude and kinetics of the hippocampal A-current. However, in Xenopus oocytes, arachidonic acid only inhibited the peak amplitude of Kv4...

In the rat isolated perfused kidney, arachidonic acid elicits cyclooxygenase-dependent vasoconstriction through activation of PGH2/TxA2 receptors; responses are enhanced in kidneys from diabetic rats. This study examined the roles of cyclooxygenase-1/cyclooxygenase-2 in the enhanced renal vasoconstrictor effect of arachidonic acid in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Release of 20-HETE was also det...

Activation of beta-adrenergic receptors with isoproterenol fails to stimulate prostaglandin synthesis in the isolated rabbit heart perfused with Ca2+-free Krebs-Henseleit buffer. This lack of response could be due to reduced isoproterenol-stimulated liberation of arachidonic acid, reduced cyclooxygenase activity during Ca2+-free perfusion, or both. To test these hypotheses, we have examined the...

Arachidonic acid is an essential fatty acid in human nutrition. In the present study, production of arachidonic acid by Mortierella alpina CBS 754.68 was evaluated in submerged fermentation. The fermentation variables were selected in accordance with the PlackettBurman (PB) design and further optimized via response surface methodology (RSM). Five significant variables, namely glucose, yeast ext...

In this study, we examined the effects of various plasminogen activators on arachidonic acid release and prostacyclin biosynthesis in cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells and bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Prostacyclin was the major product formed from arachidonic acid in aortic smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. When intact cells were incubated with streptokinase, one of...