Isomeric prostaglandin F2 compounds arising from prostaglandin D2: a family of icosanoids produced in vivo in humans.

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 has been shown to be transformed by human 11-ketoreductase to 9 alpha,11 beta-PGF2, a biologically active metabolite that is produced in vivo. During the course of developing a mass spectrometric assay for 9 alpha,11 beta-PGF2, several compounds with characteristics similar to PGF2 were detected in both plasma and urine of normal humans by selected ion monitoring. Analysis of pooled plasma obtained from patients with mastocytosis during severe episodes of systemic mast cell activation associated with the release of markedly increased quantities of PGD2 was revealing in that all of these compounds were present in approximately 800-fold greater abundance compared to levels found in normal plasma, suggesting that these compounds arose from PGD2 metabolism. Complete electron impact mass spectra were obtained of these compounds in both plasma and urine; these spectra established that they were all isometric forms of PGF2. Approximately 16 isomeric PGF2 compounds were identified. Treatment with butylboronic acid indicated that the C-9 and C-11 hydroxyls were trans in approximately one-third of the compounds and cis in approximately two-thirds. Preliminary experiments suggest that PGD2 is a very labile compound in vivo and undergoes extensive isomerization, after which reduction by 11-ketoreductase yields a family of more stable isomeric PGF2 compounds. Elucidating the profile of biological activity of these compounds and their mechanism of formation will contribute importantly to our understanding of the biological consequences of PGD2 release in vivo. These results also bring into question the reliability of assays for PGF2 alpha and its metabolites in human biological fluids as a specific index of endogenous PGF2 alpha biosynthesis, as these assays may also measure in part isomeric PGF2 compounds arising from PGD2 metabolism.