Background Prostanoids are known to participate in the process of fibrogenesis. Because lung fibroblasts produce prostanoids and are believed to play a central role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), we hypothesized that fibroblasts (HF) cultured from the lungs of patients with IPF (HF-IPF) have an altered balance between profibrotic (thromboxane [TX]A2) and antifibrotic (prostacyclin [PGI2]) prostaglandins (PGs) when compared with normal human lung fibroblasts (HF-NL).

      Methods
      We measured inducible cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 gene and protein expression, and a profile of prostanoids at baseline and after IL-1β stimulation.


      Results
      In both HF-IPF and HF-NL COX-2 expression was undetectable at baseline, but was significantly upregulated by IL-1β. PGE2 was the predominant COX product in IL-1β-stimulated cells with no significant difference between HF-IPF and HF-NL (28.35 [9.09–89.09] vs. 17.12 [8.58–29.33] ng/106 cells/30 min, respectively; P = 0.25). TXB2 (the stable metabolite of TXA2) production was significantly higher in IL-1β-stimulated HF-IPF compared to HF-NL (1.92 [1.27–2.57] vs. 0.61 [0.21–1.64] ng/106 cells/30 min, respectively; P = 0.007) and the ratio of PGI2 (as measured by its stable metabolite 6-keto-PGF1α) to TXB2 was significantly lower at baseline in HF-IPF (0.08 [0.04–0.52] vs. 0.12 [0.11–0.89] in HF-NL; P = 0.028) and with IL-1β stimulation (0.24 [0.05–1.53] vs. 1.08 [0.51–3.79] in HF-NL; P = 0.09).


      Conclusion
      An alteration in the balance of profibrotic and antifibrotic PGs in HF-IPF may play a role in the pathogeneses of IPF.