THE SECRETION AND DISPOSITION OF CORTISOL DURING PREGNANCY

Abstract

The following findings were obtained which bear on the mechanisms concerned in the rise of plasma free 17-hydroxycorticoid (17-OHCS) levels during pregnancy: 1) Cortisol accounted for approximately 90 per cent of the plasma free 17-OHCS in pregnant women during the third trimester. 2) No cortisol (F), cortisone (E), tetrahydrocortisol (THF) or tetrahydrocortisone (THE) were detected in the urine of 2 adrenalectomized pregnant patients maintained on 1 mg. of 9-alpha-fluorohydrocortisone daily during the third trimester. 3) When ACTH was administered intravenously to a woman with intact adrenals during pregnancy and the postpartum period, there was a greater response during pregnancy as determined by the excretion of F+E and the rise in the level of plasma free 17-OHCS, but no greater response as determined by the excretion of F+E+THF+THE. 4) In a normal woman followed throughout pregnancy there was a marked rise in plasma free 17-OHCS levels but little change in urinary total 17-OHCS excretion. 5) When cor...