Recovery of Prostaglandins in Human Cutaneous Inflammation

Abstract

SummaryAn in-vivo skin perfusion technique has been used to study the pharmacological activity in inflamed skin-of patients with allergic contact eczema. Perfusates from 35 out of 45 patients contained a smooth-muscle-contracting agent with prostaglandin-like properties. Solvent partition followed by thinlayer chromatography revealed this activity to be due to a mixture of prostaglandins E and F. This direct evidence supports the view that prostaglandins mediate inflammation in man.

Prostaglandin‐like Activity in Human Eccrine Sweat

“…The present experiments show that human eccrine sweat contains small amounts of prostaglandin-like activity. Both the range of concentrations and the mean level resemble the figures quoted by Greaves et al (1971) for prostaglandin-like activity in human skin perfusates. What physiological role, if any, these substances may play in sweat is difficult to predict.…”

“…These authors reported that E and, to a lesser degree, F type prostaglandins are dilators of skin blood vessels and suggested that they may play a role in cutaneous inflammation. The latter suggestion is supported by the observations of Greaves, Sondergaard and McDonald-Gibson (1971) who detected prostaglandin-like activity in skin perfusates from patients with allergic contact eczema. Skin perfusates from healthy skin have also been studied by the same authors and the results indicate a mean concentration of 0-13 ng/ml prostaglandin E, equivalents.…”

INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS OF PROSTAGLANDIN D2 IN RAT AND HUMAN SKIN

“…Increased amounts ofE prostaglandin are found in inflamed skin (Sondergaard & Greaves, 1970;Greaves, Sondergaard & McDonald-Gibson, 1971; Angaard & Jonsson, 1971;Hamberg & Jonsson, 1973), in ocular (Eakins, Whitelocke, Perkins, Bennet & Ungar, 1972) and in many other types of inflammation (Ferreira, Flower, Moncada & Vane, 1975).…”

Release of Prostaglandin by Mitogen- and Antigen-Stimulated Leukocytes in Culture

“…These common biologic effects include enhancement of vascular permeability, vasodilation, leukotaxis, and initiation of bone resorption (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). In addition, PG's have been implicated both as mediators and modulators of several inflammatory processes (4,7,11) and have been identified in a wide variety of inflammatory exudates (4,12,13). They may directly influence the function of both neutrophils and lymphocytes by activating the adenylate cyclase-cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) system of leukocytes (14)(15)(16)(17).…”