Tannin stimulates arachidonic acid release from bovine tracheal epithelial cells. Cloutier, Michelle M., and Linda Guernsey. Pediatric Pulmonary Division, University of Connecticut Health Center
APStracts 2:0208L, 1995.
Condensed tannin, isolated from cotton bracts extract (CBE), increases arachidonic acid (AA) release from rabbit alveolar macrophages and inhibits its subsequent reacylation. We determined whether tannin from CBE had any effect upon arachidonic acid release in bovine tracheal epithelial cells (BTE). 14C-AA release was measured at timed intervals after addition of various concentrations of tannin to BTE cells grown to confluence in the presence of 14C-AA. Tannin caused a time and dose-dependent release of AA from airway cells with a maximum release occurring at 1 minute in the presence of 100 [mu]g/ml of tannin and was confirmed by high pressure liquid chromatography. The pattern of release was similar to that observed with bradykinin (2 x 10-6 M). AA release by tannin was partially inhibited by indomethacin (10-5 M) but not by 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA,10-5 M). Both of these drugs were effective in inhibiting bradykinin-induced AA release. In addition, AA release was not inhibited by cycloheximide. Endotoxin at 100 pg/ml and higher also caused a time-dependent release of AA which was not inhibitable by indomethacin or ETYA. Tannin-induced AA release was inhibited by pretreatment with pertussis toxin but not by neomycin, an inhibitor of phospholipase C (PLC). Neither pertussis toxin nor neomycin had any effect upon endotoxin-induced AA release. In other experiments, neither tannin nor endotoxin had any effect on 14C-AA uptake by BTE. These data demonstrate that tannin at low concentrations and endotoxin at high concentrations increase AA release by BTE cells. The AA released by tannin is partially metabolized by the cyclooxygenase pathway. We hypothesize that tannin induced AA release is not mediated by PLC but may be mediated by other phospholipases (PL) including PLA2.

Received 24 January 1994; accepted in final form 29 October 1995.
APS Manuscript Number L25-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 30 November 95