Prostaglandins and cardiovascular function: some biochemical and physiological aspects

Abstract

More than 40 years ago the biological activity of secretions of human accessory genital glands was observed independently by Euler [8] and Goldblatt [9]. Euler concluded that the active principle was a lipid soluble acid, and suggested prostaglanding (PG) as a suitable name. This name has been retained ever since, although later studies by Euler showed that the main source of PG in the male genital tract is not the prostate gland but rather the seminal vesicles. PG attracted little interest in laboratories until the late 1950s, when Bergström and co-workers at the Karolinska Institute isolated several different PGs from the sheep seminal vesicles and elucidated their chemical structures [4, 5]. Since then, research in PGs has increased tremendously; this year more than 2000 papers will be published in the field.

From the first observation on the blood-pressure decreasing effect of PGs [8] to today's discussion of prostacyclin as a physiological vasoregulator, a considerable number of papers have reported on various possible physiological roles for PGs in the circulatory system. The purpose of the current paper is briefly to describe some of these data, especially those dealing with PGs in the normal, healthy individual.