Prostaglandins and prostaglandin metabolites in human gastric juice

Human gastric juice contains higher concentrations of PG metabolites than of unmetabolized PG indicating that local metabolism might play a role in limiting the biological activity of PG in gastric mucosa and has to be considered when investigating endogenous gastric PG. A major fraction of the 15-keto-13,14-dihydro-PGE2 (KH2PGE2) formed in gastric mucosa and released into the gastric lumen seems to be rapidly dehydrated to a compound co-chromatographing with KH2PGA2, while the amounts of the bicyclic degradation product 11-deoxy-13,14-dihydro-15-keto-11,16-cyclo-PGE2 (11-deoxy-KH2-cyclo-PGE2), as measured by radioimmunoassay, in freshly extracted gastric juice are negligible. Stimulation of secretion with pentagastrin does not influence significantly the concentrations of PG and PG metabolites in human gastric juice, but total output tends to increase parallel to the increase in secretion volume. Levels of immunoreactive 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in human gastric juice are much lower than those of PGE2. Since human gastric mucosa synthesizes conciderable amounts of PGI2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in vitro, the low levels of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha in gastric juice might indicate that PGI2 formed by gastric mucosa in vivo is, like PGE2 and PGF2 alpha, rapidly metabolized and/or removed preferentially via the blood stream.