Prostaglandins and cholera: the occurrence of prostagland in-like smooth muscle contracting substances in cholera diarrhoea.

Prostaglandin-like smooth muscle contracting substances were identified in acid lipid extracts of diarrhoeal faeces taken from patients presenting clinical symptoms of cholera. Five out of the eleven cases studied were bacteriologically confirmed as cholera. The PG-like activity in the individual samples ranged from 3-27 mg PGE2 equivalents /ml of diarrhoeal stool. Parallel bioassay and thin-layer chromatographic analysis of the extracts indicated that about 60% of the activity was due to an F-type PG, 15% to an E-type PG and the rest to unidentified lipid substanc(s). It is proposed that increased PG production in cholera (indicated by these findings) may at least contribute to the disease.