5β-PREGNAN-3α-OL-20-ONE IN URINE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The occurrence, metabolic formation and degradation of 5β-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one are reviewed. Estimation of 5β-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one in urine has shown that: under acid conditions 5β-pregnane-3α,17α,20α-triol is destroyed with partial formation of pregnanolone; however, the amounts of pregnanolone that are formed, do not interfere with the estimation of pregnanolone in urine of normal adults after acid hydrolysis and offer no explanation for the high levels of pregnanolone in urine of patients with adrenal hyperplasia, as observed by some investigators. Excretion of pregnanolone found in urine during pregnancy (1–15 mg/day) is considerably below the levels reported in the literature so far. Normal adults excrete pregnanolone in urine in amounts within a range of 0.05–0.70 mg/day. There is a positive rank-correlation between the excretion of pregnanolone and pregnanediol in urine of normal males and females and of pregnant females. After administration of ACTH to adults an increase in the excretion of pregnanolone in urine could not always be demonstrated.