Leukotriene B4 and C4 Metabolism in Small Intestine Mucosa of Children with Celiac Disease

Summary: The enhanced generation of cicosanoids, including leukotriencs (LTs), may be involved in the patho‐physiology of small intestine mucosal injury in patients with celiac disease. We investigated the metabolism of LTB 4 and LTC 4 by small intestine mucosa in patients with celiac disease by incubating biopsics of small intestine mucosa from patients and healthy subjects in media containing LTB 4 and LTC 4 and measuring the changes in LTB 4 and cysteinyl LT concentrations in the incubation media. There was no significant degradation of LTB 4 during a 60‐min incubation of the small intestine mucosa from either children with celiac disease or controls. LTC 4 was metabolized to LTD 4 and LTE 4 in a time‐dependent manner by the small intestine mucosa of both patients and controls. However, the decreases in LTC 4 and the increases in LTD 4 and LTE 4 by the intestinal mucosa from patients with celiac disease occurred more slowly than the changes observed in control experiments. Reduced catabolism of LTC 4 in the small intestine mucosa due to villous atrophy may contribute to increased levels of LTC 4 and may play an important role in the pathophysiology of celiac disease.