FREE AND SOLVOLYSABLE DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE AND ANDROSTERONE IN BLOOD OF MAMMALS UNDER PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATION OF DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE

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Abstract
A gas chromatographic method was employed for determination of dehydroepiandrosterone (D), androsterone (A), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DS) and androsterone sulfate (AS) in the peripheral blood of human subjects and in various mammals under physiological conditions and after the administration of D or DS. Unconjugated D was isolated and the resting level determined in the rat,r abbit, dog, sheep, pig and cow, while DS was detectable in the peripheral circulation of the rat, dog and pig. Unconjugated A was present in blood of the rodents and domestic ungulates studied, while the parent sulfate was demonstrated only in rat, dog, pig and cow. The plasma of lower mammals contained D in higher (0.8-10.9 .mu.g/100 ml), and DS, if any, in lower level (1.5-5.7 .mu.g/100 ml) than the human plasma samples (0.1-2.7 and 86-308 .mu.g/100 ml, respectively). There was a more pronounced increase in D and A than in the DS and AS level in the rat and dog following administration of D. Exogenous D hardly affected unconjugated D and appreciably enhanced the DS level in human plasma. The conclusion drawn for human subjects, that D is the metabolically active and DS the reserve hormone, does not seem to be valid for all the animals here studied.