The relationship between 14C-arachidonic acid (14C-AA) metabolism, myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) and leukocyte infiltration was studied in a chronic model of inflammatory bowel disease, induced by a single intrarectal application of the hapten, trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNB). The colonic damage produced by TNB was accompanied, after 12-36 hours, by a marked increase in MPO, which was directly correlated to leukocyte infiltration, assessed histologically. There was also a marked increase in the metabolism of 14C-AA, by homogenates of inflamed colon, to 12-, 15-HETE and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha as indices of lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase metabolism respectively. However, a further increase in MPO-cellular infiltration, between 36-72 hours after TNB, was accompanied by a reduction in 12- and 15-HETE formation. The increase in MPO-cellular infiltration was maintained for up to 3 weeks, at which time both 12-, 15-HETE and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha formation had returned to control levels. These results suggest that these AA metabolites have a greater importance in the acute phase of the inflammatory response induced by TNB compared to the later chronic phase.