A simple prostaglandin bioassay based on smooth muscle preparations from the human oviduct.

A simple bioassay for the detection of PGE2, PGF2 alpha and PGI2 was developed by the use of smooth muscle preparations from the human oviduct. The circular muscle layer showed opposite responses to PGE2 and PGF2 alpha while the tubal artery was expedient to distinguish PGE2 from PGI2. As compared to earlier described PG bioassays the system showed a high sensitivity and the limit for detection of an unknown sample was approx. 1 ng. Also combinations of PGs could be identified when reference samples were administered parallel to the unknown samples. It is suggested that the described PG bioassay when further developed may be advantageous for certain purposes since the tissue material generally can be obtained at routine gynecological operations, thus avoiding the use of laboratory animals.