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Verapamil alters eicosanoid synthesis and accelerates healing during experimental colitis in rats

Gastroenterology, ISSN: 0016-5085, Vol: 102, Issue: 4, Page: 1229-1235
1992
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  • Citations
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      21
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        21

Article Description

In inflammatory bowel disease, prostaglandins are mucosal protective whereas leukotrienes are proinflammatory. Recent evidence suggests that the formation and action of leukotrienes are calcium-dependent, whereas the formation and action of prostaglandins are not. To examine the possibility that, because of differential regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism, calcium channel blockade might alter mucosal eicosanoid synthesis and accelerate healing during inflammatory bowel disease, we treated a 4% acetic acid-induced colitis model with verapamil and/or misoprostol and determined the effects on colonic macroscopic injury, mucosal inflammation as measured by myeloper-oxidase activity, in vivo intestinal fluid absorption, and mucosal prostaglandin E 2 and leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4 ) levels as measured by in vivo rectal dialysis. In colitic animals, verapamil treatment significantly improved colonic fluid absorption and macroscopic ulceration. This mucosal-protective effect of verapamil occurred in the presence of a twofold reduction in mucosal LTB 4 synthesis. In noncolitic animals, verapamil alone had no effect on in vivo fluid absorption, macroscopic ulceration, or myeloperoxidase activity but did induce a threefold reduction in LTB 4 synthesis in addition to shifting arachidonic acid metabolism towards a sixfold stimulation of prostaglandin E 2 synthesis. Our results show that, when administered before the experimental induction of colitis, the calcium channel blocker, verapamil, has a mucosal-protective effect that occurs as a consequence of reduced mucosal leukotriene synthesis and increased prostaglandin synthesis. This differential regulation of arachidonic acid metabolism may play an important role in the development of novel therapeutic agents for inflammatory bowel disease.

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