Lipoxygenase Metabolites in Chronic Inflammation of the Nasal Mucosa

Abstract

Arachidonic acid metabolites in nasal secretion, retention fluid and the nasal mucosa were investigated. The nasal secretion was obtained from patients with chronic sinusitis, and the retention fluid was from post-operative maxillary sinus cyst. The mucosa of the inferior turbinates in hypertrophic rhinitis, the nasal polyps and the sinus mucosa in chronic sinusitis were also investigated. Leukotriene (LT)B₄,5-,12- and 15hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) were analyzed by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry, and LTC₄, D₄ and E₄ were analyzed by RP-HPLC.
The levels of LTB₄ and 5-HETE in nasal secretion and mucosae were higher than the concentration that induced chemotactic activity in polymorphonuclear cells. The predominant metabolites of arachidonic acid in the nasal mucosae were 12- and 15-HETE, and that in nasal secretion was 12-HETE. Sulfidopeptide LTs such as LTC₄, D₄, E₄ were detected, even in non-allergic samples.
LTB₄ and 5-HETE are presumed to ha ve important roles in nasal mucosal inflammation with leukocytes migration. The roles of 12- and 15-HETE in the nasal mucosa also seemed to be important because of their predominance in the arachidonic acid cascade. LTC₄, D₄, E₄, which are slow-reacting substances in anaphilaxis, were considered to mediate not only nasal allergy but also the inflammation of the nasal mucosae.