All of the reactions undergone by the above cited PGs occur spontaneously (i.e. are enzyme-independent) in aqueous media. This biochemistry sets very important limitations on the study of the cyclopentenone PGs and to a lesser extent on PGE2, PGE1, and PGD2: a) detection of the cyclopentenone PGs in tissues may and has often reflected their formation during tissue preparation; b) detection of PGE2, PGE1, and PGD2 in tissues may be underestimated because of losses due to their conversion to cyclopentenone PGs; c) the activities, as studied in vitro or in vivo, of PGJ2 may reflect its conversion to Δ12-PGJ2 or 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-PGJ2, those of Δ12-PGJ2 may reflect its conversion to 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-PGJ2, and those of PGE2, PGE1, or PGD2 may reflect their conversion to any of the cyclopentenone PGs; and d) the attachment of these compounds, similar to that in other Michael reactions, is reversible and therefore may be underestimated or go undetected in studies.