Elevation of serum phospholipase A2 in patients at an intensive care unit

Flavonoids as phospholipase A2 inhibitors: importance of their structure for selective inhibition of group II phospholipase A2

The inhibitory effect of the plant flavonoid, rutin, on group I phospholipase A2 (PLA2-I) from porcine pancreas and Naja naja, and on group II phospholipase A2 (PLA2-II) from Vipera russelli and Crotalus atrox was investigated. Rutin efficiently inhibited PLA2-II from both Vipera russelli and Crotalus atrox but was only a weak inhibitor of PLA2-I from porcine pancreas and Naja naja. The lack of strong inhibition of pancreatic PLA2-I was not due to contaminating proteins in the enzyme preparation, since the same weak inhibition was obtained against pancreatic PLA2 purified to homogeneity as judged by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Rutin also efficiently inhibited human PLA2-II from synovial fluid but was only a weak inhibitor of human PLA2-I from pancreatic juice, suggesting that rutin is a selective PLA2-I from porcine pancreas. The results obtained indicate that the hydroxyl group in 5-position as well as the double bond and the double-bonded oxygen in the oxane ring are all important for the overall ability of flavonoids to inhibit PLA2 activity, and that the hydroxyl groups in 3'- and 4'- position are required for selective inhibition of PLA2-II.

Group I and group II phospholipases A2 in serum in uraemia

Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays were used for the detection of pancreatic group I and synovial-type group II phospholipases A2 in sera of patients suffering from chronic renal failure before and after haemodialysis. The concentration of group I phospholipase A2 was ten-fold higher in sera of uraemic patients than in healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the concentrations of group I phospholipase A2 in serum before and after haemodialysis. The concentration of group II phospholipase A2 was only marginally increased in sera of uraemic patients, compared with healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the concentrations of group II phospholipase A2 before and after haemodialysis. The results indicate that the metabolism of group I phospholipase A2 differs from that of group II phospholipase A2 in chronic renal failure.