Arachidonic Acid Metabolites and the Interactions between Platelets and Blood-Vessel Walls

Abstract

PROSTAGLANDINS are potent vasoactive agents with a wide variety of other actions that depend on the species and organ tested and the prostaglandin used. They are synthesized from 20-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids containing three, four or five double bonds. These fatty acids are present in the phospholipids of the cell membranes of all mammalian tissues. The main precursor of prostaglandins in man is eicosatetraenoic or arachidonic acid (four double bonds), which gives rise to the prostaglandins (PG's) containing two double bonds (PGE₂, PGF₂α, PGD₂, prostacyclin and thromboxane A₂). PGE₂ and PGF . . .