Albumin prevents metabolism of 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid by leukocytes in vitro.

Abstract In the present paper we studied the influence of albumin on the in vitro metabolism of 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) and arachidonic acid in leukocytes and aspirin-treated platelets. In the presence of physiological concentrations of albumin, the metabolism of both 12-HETE and arachidonic acid was substantially altered, implicating the importance fatty acid binding proteins might have on the profile of products formed both in vitro and in vivo. The results clearly showed that albumin effectively withdraws arachidonic acid and 12-HETE from further metabolism by the leukocytes but does not influence the conversion of arachidonic acid to 12-HETE by the platelets. Thus, some of the hypotheses concerning transcellular metabolism raised from in vitro data within the eicosanoid field might have little relevance for the in vivo situation.