Extraction and purification of prostaglandins and thromboxane from biological samples for gas chromatographic analysis

An efficient extraction procedure for the isolation of prostaglandins (PGs) from biological samples for their subsequent quantification by gas chromatography-electron capture detection (GC-ECD) is described. PGs were extracted from lung, kidney, spleen and stomach fundus into ethyl acetate at different pHs. The highest recovery and least extraction of contaminating pigments was obtained at pH 4.5. Pigments and other contaminants are removed by thin-layer chromatography using a solvent system chloroform-isopropyl alcohol-ethanol-formic acid (45:5:0.5:0.3). The isolated PGs were determined by GC-ECD after appropriate derivatization. The overall recovery of PGs using this procedure is 60%.