Leukotrienes are powerful metabolites of arachidonic acid which are known to increase the permeability of peripheral blood vessels. These substances are found in brain tissue in association with cerebral ischemia, and in brain tumors. Therefore, it has been proposed that leukotrienes have a mediator function in brain edema. This hypothesis was subjected to further experimental analysis in this study, in which the authors investigated whether: 1) superfusion of the exposed brain surface with leukotrienes increases the permeability of extraparenchymal blood vessels in vivo; 2) intraparenchymal infusion of leukotrienes induces brain edema; and 3) pharmacological inhibition of leukotriene formation by BW755C, an inhibitor of leukotriene synthesis, reduces formation of brain edema from a standardized traumatic insult. The pial vessels of the parietal cortex of cats were examined by fluorescence microscopy during cerebral superfusion with the leukotrienes C4 (LTC4), D4 (LTD4), or E4 (LTE4) by using an open cranial window preparation. Intravenous Na(+)-fluorescein served as an in vivo blood-brain barrier (BBB) indicator. Superfusion of the pia with leukotrienes (up to 2 microM) did not open the barrier to fluorescein, but was associated with a significant constriction (up to 25%) of arterial and venous vessels. In experiments with slow infusion of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) or LTC4 into the white matter of feline brain, the tissue water content was subsequently determined in serial brain slices using the specific gravity method. Tissue water profiles obtained after a 15-microM infusion of either LTB4 or LTC4 were virtually identical with those of control animals infused with mock cerebrospinal fluid. Thus, neither LTB4 nor LTC4 led to an augmentation of infusion-induced brain edema. In a final series, a cold lesion of the left parietal cortex was induced in rabbits. Twenty-four hours later, swelling of the exposed hemisphere was quantified by gravimetrical comparison of its weight with that of the contralateral nontraumatized hemisphere. Eight animals received BW755C intravenously prior to and after trauma to inhibit formation of leukotrienes. Seven rabbits were infused with an equivalent volume of saline as a control study. The resulting hemispheric swelling was 7.7% +/- 0.6% (mean +/- standard error of the mean) 24 hours later in animals receiving BW755C and 7.8% +/- 1.2% in the control group, indicating that inhibition of leukotrienes was ineffective in preventing formation of vasogenic brain edema. The findings demonstrate that leukotrienes administered to the brain in concentrations occurring under pathological conditions do not open the BBB nor do they induce brain edema.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)