Quantitative determination of prostaglandin levels in human gastric mucosa--analysis by microcolumn high performance liquid chromatography with laser induced fluorescence detection

This study was designed to analyze PGs in human gastric mucosa using biopsy specimens at femtomole level by the combination of microcolumn HPLC and He/Cd laser induced fluorescence detection. Biopsy specimens were taken along the greater curvature at the corpus of the stomach, in which no gastric disease was revealed by endoscopic examination. PGs extracted from human gastric mucosa were derivatized with ADAM, and ADAM-derivatized PGs were injected into the column for analysis. The mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (73:27) containing 0.01% of phosphoric acid was used at a constant pressure of 20 kgf/cm2. Using this system, PGs in few mg of human gastric mucosa obtained by biopsy were well separated and detected; i.e., 1653 +/- 254 (femtomole/mg tissue), 279 +/- 56, 729 +/- 153, 831 +/- 199 for 6-keto-PGF1 alpha, PGF2 alpha, PGE2, and PGD2, respectively. In conclusion, the microcolumn HPLC system with laser induced fluorescence detection is a reliable method for determining individual PGs in human gastric mucosa. In addition, PGI2 is the predominant PG in human gastric mucosa and probably plays an important role in gastric function.