Simultaneous mass spectrometric measurement of prostaglandins E1 (PGE1) and PGE2 with a deuterated internal standard.

The use of (3,3,4,4-2H4)PGE2 as internal standard for the quantitative measurement of PGE1 by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is reported. A method for the simultaneous analysis of PGE1 and PGE2 is also described. The prostaglandins were analyzed by selected ion monitoring as the methyl ester-trimethylsilyl ether (ME-TMS) derivatives of PGB1 and PGB2, respectively. In all cases, a linear response over the range 1 to 70 ng (2.8 to 198 pmoles) was demonstrated. The use of this procedure is exemplified by its application to the PG analysis of sheep seminal vesicles.