Procedures for plasma prostaglandins assay from bronchial asthmatic patients using 9-anthryldiazomethane-HPLC method.

We report here an efficient method for simultaneous and quantitative determinations of plasma prostaglandins (PGs) from asthmatic patients using 9-anthryldiazomethane-reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Detection and simultaneous quantitation of 20 pg PGE1, PGE2, PGF2 alpha and 100 pg 6-keto PGF1 alpha, thromboxane B2 (TXB2) was possible by the present method. Preliminary studies showed that plasma TXB2 levels from stable asthmatic patients were elevated compared with normal healthy subjects, suggesting pathophysiologic implications regarding PGs and TXB2 in asthma may be elicited by the present HPLC method.