Production of arachidonic acid metabolites by the colon adenocarcinoma cell line HT29 cl.19A and their effect on chloride secretion.

Eicosanoids were found in large amounts in the colonic mucosa of patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases and colonic adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of the intestinal epithelial cells in the arachidonic acid metabolism and their functional response to certain eicosanoids. We used the human adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line HT29 cl.19A cell, which is an in vitro model of colon carcinoma and ion transport. These cells were found to express 5- and 15-lipoxygenase, leukotriene A4 hydrolase and cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 mRNAs. We observed an arachidonic acid metabolism via 5-lipoxygenase pathway despite the lack of FLAP mRNA expression and that certain eicosanoids such as hydroperoxy- and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids stimulate chloride secretion.