Assay of prostaglandin-like substances in faeces and their measurement in ulcerative colitis.

A method is described for extracting and measuring prostaglandin-like substances from faeces. Bioassay has shown virtual absence of activity in stools from normal people (8 subjects) but raised levels in stools from patients with active ulcerative colitis (16 observations on 6 patients). The relevance of these observations to the mode of action of sulphasalazine is discussed and suggestions for possible applications of this method to other problems made.