Effect of diabetic sera on the conversion of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to prostaglandin I-3 by cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells

The effects of sera from diabetic patients and healthy donors on the synthesis of prostaglandin I-2 (PGI(2)) and PGI(3) in vitro were studied in confluent bovine aortic endothelial cells cultured with EPA. The products 6-keto-PGF(1 alpha) and Delta(17)-6-keto-PGF(1 alpha) were measured by GC/SIM as markers of PGI(2) and PGI(3) formation in growth medium after 60 min of incubation. PGI(2) and PGI(3) synthesis with 10% diabetic sera were less than with sera from healthy donors (p < 0.05). However, the total prostacyclin production (PGI(2) and PGI(3)) in the cell cultures incubated with 10 mu M EPA and 10% diabetic sera approximated that of the cultures incubated with the sera of healthy donors without EPA. These results suggest that the diabetic sera inhibits PGI(2) and PGI(3) synthesis in the cultured endothelial cells, and that EPA intake may reduce the complications of diabetes mellitus, such as microangiopathy and vaso-occlusive diseases, and enhances the production of PGI(3) which seems to exert a strong anti-aggregatory effect.