Prostaglandins: a review

Abstract

The development of industrial processes for the supply of prostaglandins should lead to a greater understanding of both the physiology and pharmacology of these substances. Although they appear to be synthesized in the membrane of every cell in the body their exact role in normal homeostasis has not yet been fully determined. The fact that prostaglandins can be extracted from a tissue does not necessarily mean that they have a physiological role in that tissue, and many tissues when stimulated release more prostaglandins than they contain. Certainly, prostaglandins are highly potent even in minute amounts and their pharmacological actions are both numerous and varied. Their side effects, when used in obstetrics, on the lungs, the gastro intestinal tract and the kidney are of importance to anaesthetists, and their cardiovascular activity, e.g. induction of hypotension and positive inotropism may be used therapeutically. (70 References are cited).