Quantitative analysis of steroids isolated from the urine of normal and ACTH treated guinea pigs.

Abstract

The response of the guinea pig adrenal to intraperitoneal injections of ACTH is reflected by a four to eightfold increase in urinary corticoid and a one to twofold increase in urinary 17-ketosteroids. All the identified corticoids and 17-ketosteroids are eliminated in sufficient amounts to make their detection, isolation and quantitation possible by means of paper chromatography and conventional colorimetric assays. The corticoids and the 17-ketosteroid 6β,11β- dihydroxy-Δ4-androstene-3,17-dione are eliminated in the urine as free compounds, while the ring A saturated 17-ketosteroids are eliminated as their water-soluble conjugated forms. Cortisone has been isolated for the first time from guinea pig urine. THE isolation and identification of corticoids from the urine of normal and ACTH treated guinea pigs has been reported (1, 2, 3), whereas the quantitative estimation of tKese substances has only been partly determined by Burstein et al. (2).