Urinary Acid Phosphatase Research Articles

Seminal fructose concentration as an index of androgenic activity in man.

THE prosecution of clinical research concerning metabolic and other physiologic properties of male hormone has been seriously handicapped by the lack of a specific sensitive index of either the rate of androgen secretion or the titer of circulating hormone. The measurement of various urinary excretory products which have been suggested for this purpose, has thus far been inadequate. The estimation of urinary 17-ketosteroids and the bio-assay of urinary androgens lack specificity as indicators of testicular androgen output since some of these steroids are derivatives of the adrenals as well as of the testes, and in addition their excretion may be influenced by factors other than glandular secretory activity (1). The excretion of urinary acid phosphatase, derived from the prostate gland, appear too variable from day to day to be useful (2). However, it was thought desirable to pursue the possibility that estimations of other secretory products of the accessory sex glands which require androgen for their dev...

Presence of Substances Inhibitory to Acid Phosphatase in Normal Human Urine

IN adult bilateral cryptorchid human subjects, a correlation has been found between androgen excretion in the urine and the amount of acid phosphatase in the semen1. The suggestion was made that if a similar correlation was found in normal subjects, measurement of acid phosphatase in semen might suffice for appraisal of urinary androgen content. Since specimens of urine are usually more easily obtained than those of semen, it seemed to be worth while to determine whether a correlation exists between urinary androgens and urinary acid phosphatase.

THE ACID PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY OF HUMAN URINE, AN INDEX OF PROSTATIC SECRETION11

THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED to determine, a) the normal values for urinary acid phosphatase in men, women and children; h) the site of origin of urinary phosphatase; and c) the influence of altered physiological states on urinary phosphatase excretion. That the urine of humans contains an enzyme capable of splitting organic phosphates has been demonstrated by Demuth (1) and others (2, 3, 4). These authors agree that optimal phosphate splitting in urine occurs in an acid medium close to a pH of 5. Kutscher (4) found an alkaline phosphatase present at plasma level in the urine. Considerable controversy exists, however, as to the site of formation of urinary phosphatase, its levels of excretion and sex differences in excretion levels. WaldschmidtLeitz and Nonnenbruch (2) found a phosphatase present in urine with an optimum pH range of 5 to 6 and in concentrations much stronger than in serum. They believed