Eicosanoid levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of young female smokers and non-smokers

To evaluate indicators of inflammatory changes in the airways of young smokers we have measured the levels of several eicosanoids in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of 18 female smokers (age 33 +/- 2 years) and 9 female non-smokers (age 29 +/- 2 years) who were hospitalized for treatment not related to any pulmonary disease. In each BAL specimen the following eicosanoids were determined by radioimmunoassay: prostaglandin (PG) E2; PGF2 alpha; 9 alpha, 11 beta-PGF2, a metabolite of PGD2; 6-keto PGF1 alpha, a metabolite of prostacyclin; thromboxane (Tx) B2, a metabolite of TxA2; the 5-lipoxygenase products 5-hydroxy-eicosa-tetraenoic acid (HETE), leukotriene (LT) B4 and LTC4; the 12-lipoxygenase product 12-HETE; and the 15-lipoxygenase product 15-HETE. The concentrations of the cyclooxygenase products (pg ml-1) in the BAL fluid of the non-smokers were: PGE2 15.4 +/- 1.9, PGF2 alpha 7.6 +/- 1.0, 9 alpha, 11 beta-PGF2 8.7 +/- 1.8, TxB2 8.8 +/- 1.3, and 6-keto PGF1 alpha only 1.5 +/- 0.8. The concentration of the lipoxygenase products were: 15-HETE 781 +/- 200, 12-HETE 193 +/- 33, 5-HETE 14.0 +/- 3.1, LTC4 9.5 +/- 3.1, LTB4 6.2 +/- 1.4. BAL fluid from smokers contained two- to three-fold higher levels of TxB2 and PGF2 alpha (P less than 0.05). The levels of TxB2 and PGF2 alpha were positively correlated to the number of package years (rs = 0.55 and rs = 0.65, P less than 0.02). The concentrations of 5-, 12- and 15-HETE tended to be higher in BAL fluid from smokers, but this was not significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)