STUDIES OF URINARY 17-KETOSTEROID EXCRETION BY MEANS OF A NEW MICRO-CHROMATOGRAPHIC FRACTIONATION PROCEDURE*

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Abstract
I. INTRODUCTION IN THE extensive studies reported by other workers (1–8) and in previous communications from this laboratory (9–11), it is clearly evident that neutral urinary 17-ketosteroid excretion may undergo important qualitative as well as quantitative alterations under certain circumstances. At times definite qualitative changes occur in the absence of significant variations in total urinary 17-ketosteroid output. Hence, determination of the composition of steroids excreted in the urine may be expected to yield considerable information in addition to that provided by simple measurements of total output. To date most of the urinary steroid fractionation studies have been performed with the aid of extensive procedures involving the use of large pooled specimens of urine and the availability of highly trained personnel. These factors rendered these procedures unsuitable for use in most small clinical and research laboratories. In a recent publication, Dingemanse, Veld and Laat described a simplified procedure for the chromatographic partition of urinary 17-ketosteroids into a number of fractions (12). Preliminary experience with this procedure in this laboratory indicated that a method of this type might serve as a satisfactory substitute for detailed fractionation studies under most circumstances. At the same time, it appeared that the procedure reported might be improved by certain modifications.