Helen Bulaschenko

Urinary excretion of C-20 reduction products of corticosterone and 11-dehydrocorticosterone

Abstract Three hundred milligrams of corticosterone was ingested by a healthy man on each of 2 days, and urine was collected for 48 hr. The urine was extracted with chloroform in the presence of β-glucuronidase. Three steroids with a glycol side chain and the Δ4-3-ketone group have been separated from the urine extract. These were identified as (I) 20β,21-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3,11-dione; (II) 11β,20β,21-trihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one; and (III) 11β,20α,21-trihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one. Evidence is presented indicating the presence of compound I in the urine of a woman with hypopituitarism following ingestion of 11-dehydrocorticosterone; and of the compound II in urine collected from two men during periods of adrenocorticotropin injections.

THE EFFECT OF ACTH AND PATHOLOGICAL INCREASES IN ADRENAL CORTICAL FUNCTION ON URINARY ALPHAKETOLIC STEROID METABOLITES

Previous studies ( 1 ) have shown that the specific alpha-ketolic steroid metabolites found in the urine after administration of a known alphaketolic steroid reflect, to a limited extent, the nature of the precursor. With this study as a baseline, we have determined the major urinary alphaketolic steroid metabolites found after intravenous infusion of human subjects with ACTH, and some of those found in the urine of a man with Cushings syndrome, and in that of a womanwith metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma. The results of this study and some speculations concerning the possible nature and rate of alpha-ketolic steroid secretion are presented in this paper.

Adrenocortical and ovarian function in the hirsute woman

Abstract Twenty-six hirsute women were evaluated with the use of differential suppression and stimulation of the adrenal cortex and ovary in addition to visualization of the ovaries. Three groups were identified on the basis of endocrine results alone. Physical examination and reproductive history allowed further differentiation. The protocol used for study was critically reviewed and evaluated. The simultaneous administration of human chorionic gonadotropin and dexamethasone following 4 days of dexamethazone alone was felt to be the most important differential step in classification of the patients.

The isolation of corticosterone metabolites from the urine of normal men

Abstract The isolation of pregnane-3α,11β, 21-triol-20-one (“tetrahydrocorticosterone”), allopregnane-3α, 11β, 21-triol-20-one (“allotetrahydrocorticosterone”), and Δ4-pregnene-21-ol-3,11,20-trione (“11-dehydrocorticosterone”) from urines of normal men is described. Allopregnane 3α, 21-diol-11, 20-dione (tetrahydro-11-dehydrocorticosterone) has been tentatively identified. All four compounds have previously been identified in urine extracts of individuals receiving corticotropin. A tabulation of some of the mobilities in several chromatographic systems of the “major” α-ketolic substances found in the urine of normal subjects is presented. The methods are presented in detail.