Alveolar macrophages (AM) play pivotal roles in the defense mechanism and the regulation of inflammatory processes in the airways. Macrophages express receptors for thrombin on their surfaces, and thrombin induces the chemotaxis and the proliferation of macrophages. Thrombin acts on vascular endothelial cells to synthesize endothelin (ET)-1. AM have been known to express prepro ET-1 mRNA. Thus, we hypothesized that thrombin stimulates AM so as to synthesize ET. Surgically resected human lungs were irrigated by saline to remove intravascular blood, then saline was instilled into the bronchus, and the fluids were recovered. AM were separated by Percoll density centrifugation (density, 1.060 g/ml). AM were resuspended in culture medium without FCS in the presence or absence of thrombin. ET was synthesized by thrombin in a concentration-dependent manner, and the amounts of ET synthesized by thrombin (10 U/ml) were equivalent to those by LPS (10 microg/ml). Dexamethasone (10(-6)-10(-10) M), IL-4 (100 U/ml), and TGF-beta (10 ng/ml) significantly suppressed the ET synthesis by thrombin (p < 0.05). In contrast, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (10(-8)-10(-10) M) enhanced the ET synthesis up to approximately 300%. The analysis using high pressure liquid chromatography revealed that AM-derived ET consists of ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3. Major constituents were ET-2 and ET-1, and the ratio of ET-2/ET-1 was 1.7 +/- 0.4 (mean +/- SE). These results indicate that thrombin is a potent agonist for AM to synthesize ET.