High Performance Liquid Chromatography in the Analysis of Prostaglandins, Thromboxanes and Leukotrienes

The history of prostaglandins goes back to the 1930s when it was observed that lipid fractions isolated from semen induced contractions or relaxations of smooth muscle (Kurzrok and Lieb, 1930; von Euler 1934, 1935; Goldblatt, 1935). The lack of suitable chromatographic and analytical techniques hampered further investigation until the 1950s when Bergstrom et al. using conventional chromatographic methods of open columns, thin layer chromatography and gas liquid chromatography, isolated and then structurally identified and synthesized different pure prostaglandins (Bergstrom and Sjovall, 1957, 1960a, 1960b; Bergstrom et al., 1959, 1962, 1963). Since then, our knowledge of prostaglandin chemistry and chromatography have progressed rapidly. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is now an important tool, and on it has depended the characterization of newly identified leukotriene metabolites of arachidonate.