5-Lipoxygenase gene expression in hemodialysis.

Leukotrienes (LTs), the end products of the eicosanoid pathway released during inflammation, are markers of polymorphonuclear cell and monocyte activation. The present study focused on the possibility that 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), the key enzyme for LT synthesis, was involved in the interaction between blood and the hemodialysis (HD) membrane. 5-LO gene expression was examined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in samples of mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral blood withdrawn at the start and at 15 min of HD from 10 chronic HD patients, 5 treated with Cuprophan and 5 with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) membrane. An increased 5-LO gene expression was detected at 15 min in 4 of 5 patients using the Cuprophan membrane but in none of the 5 PMMA treated patients. Our results showed for the first time that the interaction between blood and the HD membrane upregulates 5-LO messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA).