Regional synthesis of monohydroxy eicosanoids by the kidney

Arachidonic acid was incubated with 10,000 x g and 100,000 x g supernatants prepared from the medullae of hydronephrotic, normal, and contralateral rabbit kidneys. Metabolites whose production was calcium dependent but not inhibited by indomethacin were identified by thin layer chromatography. Preparative separation was carried out by silicic acid high pressure liquid chromatography. The methyl ester trimethylsilyl derivatives were prepared and examined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The mass spectra matched previously published mass spectra for 12-hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraeinoic acid and 15-hydroxy-5,8,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid. The renal cortex does not metabolize arachidonic acid through the lipoxygenase pathway. Thus, there is regional metabolism of arachidonate to monohydroxy eicosanoids in the kidney.