Prostaglandins as haemostatic agents

IT has been reported that prostaglandin endoperoxides (PGG 2 and PGH 2 ), possible intermediates in the biosynthesis of PGE 2 and PGF 2α from arachidonic acid, may be mediators of platelet aggregation 1–3 . Kloeze reported 4 that neither PGE 2 nor PGF 2α cause platelet aggregation or ADP release, and Willis 5 stated that prostaglandins themselves cannot induce platelet aggregation. But we have found that three synthetic prostaglandins, Wy-16, 991, Wy-17, 185 and Wy-17, 186, induce platelet aggregation in vitro , and two of them, Wy-17, 185 and Wy-17, 186, significantly shorten the Lee White clotting time in rats. The most active of the three, Wy-17, 186, exerts a haemostatic effect on a bleeding wound surface.