Prostaglandins (PG) are a group of physiologically active lipid compounds that have diverse hormone-like effects in animals. They are a subclass of eicosanoids and of the prostanoid class of fatty acid derivatives. Prostaglandins have been found in almost every tissue in humans and other animals. They are derived enzymatically from the fatty acid arachidonic acid. Every prostaglandin contains 20 carbon atoms, including a 5-carbon ring.

The structural differences between prostaglandins account for their different biological activities. A given prostaglandin may have different and even opposite effects in different tissues in some cases. The ability of the same prostaglandin to stimulate a reaction in one tissue and inhibit the same reaction in another tissue is determined by the type of receptor to which the prostaglandin binds. They act as autocrine or paracrine factors with their target cells present in the immediate vicinity of the site of their secretion. Prostaglandins differ from endocrine hormones in that they are not produced at a specific site but in many places throughout the human body.

Prostaglandins are powerful, locally-acting vasodilators and inhibit the aggregation of blood platelets. Through their role in vasodilation, prostaglandins are also involved in inflammation. They are synthesized in the walls of blood vessels and serve the physiological function of preventing needless clot formation, as well as regulating the contraction of smooth muscle tissue. Conversely, thromboxanes (produced by platelet cells) are vasoconstrictors and facilitate platelet aggregation. Their name comes from their role in clot formation (thrombosis).

Specific prostaglandins are named with a letter indicating the type of ring structure, followed by a number indicating the number of double bonds in the hydrocarbon structure. For example, prostaglandin E₁ has the abbreviation PGE₁ and prostaglandin I₂ has the abbreviation PGI₂.

Systematic studies of prostaglandins began in 1930, when Kurzrock and Lieb found that human seminal fluid caused either stimulation or relaxation of strips of isolated human uterus. They noted that uteri from patients who had gone through successful pregnancies responded to the fluid with relaxation, while uteri from sterile women responded with contraction. The name prostaglandin derives from the prostate gland, chosen when prostaglandin was first isolated from seminal fluid in 1935 by the Swedish physiologist Ulf von Euler, and independently by the Irish-English physiologist Maurice Walter Goldblatt (1895–1967). Prostaglandins were believed to be part of the prostatic secretions, and eventually were discovered to be produced by the seminal vesicles. Later, it was shown that many other tissues secrete prostaglandins and that they perform a variety of functions. The first total syntheses of prostaglandin F_2α and prostaglandin E₂ were reported by Elias James Corey in 1969, an achievement for which he was awarded the Japan Prize in 1989.

In 1971, it was determined that aspirin-like drugs could inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins. The biochemists Sune K. Bergström, Bengt I. Samuelsson and John R. Vane jointly received the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on prostaglandins.

Prostaglandins are found in most tissues and organs. They are produced by almost all nucleated cells. They are autocrine and paracrine lipid mediators that act upon platelets, endothelium, uterine and mast cells. They are synthesized in the cell from the fatty acid arachidonic acid.

Arachidonic acid is created from diacylglycerol via phospholipase-A₂, then brought to either the cyclooxygenase pathway or the lipoxygenase pathway. The cyclooxygenase pathway produces thromboxane, prostacyclin and prostaglandin D, E and F. Alternatively, the lipoxygenase enzyme pathway is active in leukocytes and in macrophages and synthesizes leukotrienes.^{[citation needed]}