Studies on steroid conjugates. VI. Quantitative paper chromatography of urinary corticosteroids in essential hypertension.

Abstract

To elucidate further our previous findings that patients with essential hypertension produce more sulfate conjugated 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) and less glucuronide conjugated 17-OHCS than normotensive subjects, individual urinary C21 αketolic steroids were separated by paper chromatography and quantitated in 11 hypertensives and 11 normotensives. The chromatography was performed separately on free, glucuronide and sulfate conjugated steroid fractions. The results obtained revealed the following statistically significant differences between the 2 groups of subjects: 1) in the free steroid fraction, excretion of cortisol and cortisone was higher in hypertensives; 2) in the glucuronide conjugated fraction, excretion of tetrahydrocortisol, tetrahydrocortisone, tetrahydrocorticosterone and tetrahydro-11-dehydrocorticosterone was lower in the hypertensives; 3) in the sulfate fraction, excretion of the most polar steroids, 6α- and 6β-hydroxycortisol, was higher in the hypertensives. The ratio of tetrahydrocortisol-to-tetrahydrocortisone glucuronides was also found to be statistically significantly higher in the hypertensives. These results: 1) confirm by means of more refined methods our previous findings that production of glucuronide conjugated 17-OHCS in essential hypertension is decreased and production of polar sulfate conjugated 17-OHCS is increased, and 2) pinpoint specific steroid metabolites, which are responsible for these changes.