Clinical significance of intermittent intravenous infusion of prostaglandin E1 into patients with Raynaud's phenomena

Abstract

Prostaglandin E1 (Prostandin, Ono Pharm. Co., Ltd.) was infused intravenously twice a day for 7 days into 10 patients of SLE, PSS and so called Raynaud's disease with Raynaud's phenomena, instead of conventional continuous infusion therapy through artery and/or vein. And its clinical effect was monitored by plethysmography, platelet aggregation test and beta-thromboglobulin concentration in plasma.In the course of PGE1treatment, amplitude of platelet aggregation induced with ADP and/or collagen and concentration of plasma beta-thromboglobulin were not changed so significantly during of and after the termination of PGE1infusion, but patterns of plethysmography were markedly improved during and even after PGEI infusion, being concordant with improvement of subjective symptolnes of Raynaud's phenomena.So it was suggested this intermittent infusion therapy of PGE1was worth trying for patients, having been suffering from inveterate thromboangitis obliterans, arteritis oblilterans, Raynaud's phenomena and so forth, who had not been able to endure the conventional continuous PGE1 infusion treatment through artery and/or vein.And our laboratory results suggest that the main effects of PGE1infusion on Raynaud's phenomena could be introduced not through inhibition of platelet functions but through distention of arteries, but more additional experiments might be required to clarify this hypothesis.