Production of platelet-activating factor by washed rabbit platelets

Production of platelet-activating factor by washed rabbit platelets under stimulation with the ionophore A23187 was investigated utilizing two groups of platelet preparations. The first platelet preparation contained 0.03 +/- 0.02% contaminating white cells, while the second preparation contained 0.48 +/- 0.27% white cells. The latter preparation produced platelet-activating factor, mainly 1-hexadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, 8.3 +/- 6.3 pmol (mean +/- standard deviation) with a range of 2.6 to 21.4 pmol (n = 9), followed by small quantities of 1-octadecenyl- and 1-octadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. In contrast, there was no production of 1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine by the former platelet preparation having 0.03% leukocytes. These quantitative analyses were carried out by the selected ion monitoring technique and it was concluded that it is necessary to consider the presence of contaminating white cells in studies on the production of platelet-activating factor by platelets.