Increased jejunal prostaglandin E2 concentrations in patients with acute cholera.

Supraphysiologic doses of prostaglandins (PGs) mimic the effect of cholera toxin and cAMP in the small intestine, but not all observations are explicable in terms of the theory that links PGs to cAMP. Because no data exist on endogenous PGs in human cholera we measured PGE2 concentrations in jejunal fluids and fasting intestinal flow rates of PGE2 during slow marker perfusion of proximal jejunum in nine patients with high purging cholera. Nine patients in the recovery phase of cholera or other watery diarrhoeas served as controls. In acute cholera PGE2 concentrations were significantly (p less than 0.001) raised (172-1435 (n = 9) vs 60-270 (n = 9) pg/ml) and negatively correlated (r = 0.71; p less than 0.05) to the…