Effect of SRI 63-675 on hemodynamics and blood PAF levels during porcine endotoxemia

R. T. Dobrowsky, R. D. Voyksner and N. C. Olson Department of Anatomy, Physiological Sciences, and Radiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606. We evaluated the effect of SRI 63-675, a specific platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist, on hemodynamics and PAF biosynthesis during 4 h of porcine endotoxemia. Hexadecyl PAF was extracted from blood, purified by normal-phase and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and quantitated by stable isotope dilution and thermospray mass spectrometry. Infusion of either saline or SRI 63-675 alone caused no change in hexadecyl PAF concentrations. In contrast, endotoxin increased blood hexadecyl PAF concentrations from 1.5 +/- 0.1 ng/ml at 0 h (baseline) to a peak value of 8.3 +/- 1.9 ng/ml at 0.5 h of endotoxemia (P less than 0.05). Blood PAF levels gradually declined toward the baseline value after 0.5 h of endotoxemia. Because endotoxin did not modify plasma acetylhydrolase activity ex vivo, the increased hexadecyl PAF levels were probably secondary to increased PAF biosynthesis and not decreased biodegradation. Bioassay of RP-HPLC fractions that were derived from endotoxemic blood and that eluted at a retention time consistent with [3H]alkyl PAF caused aggregation of washed rabbit platelets that was inhibited by SRI 63-675. The PAF receptor antagonist blocked the 0.5 h endotoxin-induced increase in blood hexadecyl PAF concentration concomitant with blockade of thrombocytopenia. The endotoxin-induced pulmonary hypertension, decreased cardiac index, and increases in pulmonary vascular resistance and alveolar-arterial O2 gradient were attenuated by SRI 63-675. The data suggest that PAF-stimulated PAF biosynthesis may substantially contribute to blood hexadecyl PAF levels and cardiopulmonary dysfunction during the initial phase of endotoxemia.