PHENOLIC METABOLITES OF DL-NORGESTREL: A METHOD FOR THE REMOVAL OF 1-HYDROXYLATED METABOLITES, POTENTIAL SOURCES OF PHENOLIC ARTIFACTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The identification of 1β-hydroxynorgestrel among the urinary metabolites of dl-norgestrel and the facile transformation of this compound under mild alkaline conditions to a potentially oestrogenic phenol provide an experimental basis for the conclusion advanced by others that the oestrogens present in the urine of subjects treated with synthetic progestens are artifacts formed during analytical work-up. A method has been devised which eliminates 1-hydroxylated metabolites as potential sources of phenolic artifacts. This method is based on the reduction by NaBH4 of the 1-hydroxy-4-en-3-one grouping in the A ring thereby excluding the possibility of aromatization during later fractionation on a basic ion exchange resin that separates neutral from phenolic metabolites. In the urines of women treated with 14C-dl-nogestrel, only 0.17–0.27% of the dose is found to have phenolic properties when this method is used. Two of the phenolic metabolites, 18-homoethynyloestradiol and 16β-hydroxy-18-homoethynyloestradiol, are present in amounts smaller than 0.01 % of the dose. Without the reduction steps the percentages are noticeably higher, indicating artifact formation under alkaline conditions. Similar results were obtained with urines from African Green Monkeys (Cercopithecus Aethiops) that had been dosed with 14C-dl-norgestrel. Radiolabelled 18-homoethynyloestradiol and 16β-hydroxy-18-homoethynyloestradiol were isolated from monkey urine and their identity confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.