Involvement of leukotriene B4 receptor 1 signaling in platelet-activating factor-mediated neutrophil degranulation and chemotaxis

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent lipid mediator of inflammation that can act on human neutrophils. When neutrophils are stimulated with PAF at concentrations greater than 10 nM, a double peak of intracellular calcium mobilization is observed. The second calcium peak observed in PAF-treated neutrophils has already been suggested to come from the production of endogenous leukotriene B4 (LTB4). Here we demonstrate the involvement of endogenous LTB4 production and subsequent activation of the high affinity LTB4 receptor (BLT1) in this second calcium mobilization peak observed after stimulation with PAF. We also show that the second, but not the first peak, could be desensitized by prior exposure to LTB4. Moreover, when neutrophils were pre-treated with pharmacological inhibitors of LTB4 production or with the specific BLT1 antagonist, U75302, PAF-mediated neutrophil degranulation was inhibited by more than 50%. On the other hand, pre-treating neutrophils with the PAF receptor specific antagonist (WEB2086) did not prevent any LTB4-induced degranulation. Also, when human neutrophils were pre-treated with U75302, PAF-mediated chemotaxis was reduced by more than 60%. These data indicate the involvement of BLT1 signaling in PAF-mediated neutrophil activities.