Human bronchial epithelial cells were isolated from macroscopically normal bronchi obtained from lobectomy specimens. Cells were grown in nutrient F12 medium, and after the third or fourth subculture they were stimulated with arachidonic acid, histamine, leukotrienes (LT) C4, D4, or E4, prostaglandin (PG) D2, anti-IgE, acetylcholine, bradykinin, or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). Neither mast cell mediators (i.e., histamine, LTC4, LTD4, LTE4, or PGD2) nor anti-IgE stimulated the release of arachidonic acid metabolites from the epithelial cells. However, arachidonic acid, acetylcholine, bradykinin, and PMA stimulated the release of 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) as major and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as minor products. The maximal release of 15-HETE and PGE2 occurred in 1 h with arachidonic acid stimulation and in 2 h with other stimuli. Arachidonic acid at 30 microM caused the release of 258 +/- 76 ng and 29 +/- 15 ng (n = 12) of 15-HETE and PGE2, respectively, from 10 x 10(6) epithelial cells, whereas acetylcholine, bradykinin, or PMA caused the release of approximately 2- to 10-fold less 15-HETE and PGE2. These results demonstrate that human bronchial epithelial cells selectively generate 15-HETE as the predominant arachidonic acid product and PGE2 as a minor metabolite. The role of bronchial epithelial cells and their mediators in the pathogenesis of bronchial hyperresponsiveness needs further study.