Arachidonic acid metabolic pathways in the rabbit pericardium.

Minced rabbit pericardium actively converts [1-14C]arachidonic acid into the known prostaglandins (6-[1-14C] ketoprostagl and in F1α, [1-14C] prostagl and in E2 and [1-14C] prostagl and in F2α) and into several unidentified metabolites. The major metabolite was separated by C18 reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to be 6,15-[1-14C]diketo-13,14-dihydroprostagl and in F1α. The other nonpolar metabolites were 15-[1-14C]hydroxy-5,8,11,13-eicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE), 11-[1-14C]hydroxy-5,8,12,14-eicosatetraenoicacid (11-HETE) and 12-(1-14C]hydroxy-5,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE). Arachidonic acid metabolites actively produced by the pericardium could influence the tone of surface blood vessels on the myocardium: