Prostaglandin biochemistry, pharmacy and physiological function. The prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes.

The prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes constitute a rapidly growing family of compounds, all of which are oxygenated derivatives of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid. Most of these metabolites are biologically very potent substances, displaying a wide variety of actions in many different biological systems. The prostaglandins were originally discovered in the reproductive tract, though it is now known that most cell types in the body possess the enzymes necessary for their biosynthesis. Due to the ubiquitous occurrence of the prostaglandins and related substances, as well as their strong and diversified biological effects, they are believed to participate in numerous biological processes, physiological as well as pathological. In certain cases such a participation has also been proved: in the reproductive tract, prostaglandins are known to be involved in such events as pregnancy, parturition, dysmenorrhea and luteolysis.