URINARY EXCRETION OF 17-DEOXYCORTICOSTEROIDS BY MAN

Abstract

SUMMARY Determinations of urinary 17-deoxycorticosteroids (17H-CS) and, in most instances, the concurrent determination of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17OH-CS) led to the following findings. 1. Healthy adults excreted 17H-CS at the rate of 3·4 ± 1·0 mg./24 hr. (mean ± s.d.) with a ratio of 17OH-CS to 17H-CS of 2·8 ± 0·6. 2. The assay of urinary 17H-CS accounted for 14–19% of the corticosterone acetate given orally to an Addisonian patient. 3. Stimulation or suppression of the adrenal cortex gave rise to changes in the excretion of 17H-CS closely paralleling those of 17OH-CS. 4. During the course of pregnancy the excretion of 17H-CS rose more steeply than that of 17OH-CS with the ratio of the latter to the former falling to 0·5–1·2 during the last two trimesters. 5. In children aged 1–12 days, the 17OH-CS: 17-H-CS ratio was 0·3 ± 0·1. In the sole case investigated, this ratio remained essentially unchanged until the age of 2 months; it rose from the 3rd month and attained a normal adult value at the age of 5 months.