AGING IN APPARENTLY NORMAL MEN. II. ANDROGENIC ACTIVITY OF URINARY KETOSTEROIDS AND OF THEIR ALPHA AND BETA FRACTIONS; THE RELATIONSHIP OF ANDROGENIC TITERS TO VALUES OBTAINED BY COLORIMETRIC ASSAY*

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Abstract
THIS serie of reports pertains to the influence of aging upon certain aspects of the endocrine system and to the relation of the endocrine status, in turn, to various bodily structures and functions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects consisted of 51 apparently normal men 21 to 75 years of age. An attempt was made to procure a group of comparable subjects with an extensive range of age, who were apparently normal and followed a similar routine of life. After preliminary surveys of several groups of persons, a series of prisoners was chosen for study. The means employed to avoid inclusion of subjects who were ill or physically unfit have been described elsewhere (1). Also listed in that publication are the extensive investigations which were carried out on these same subjects; the method of collection, extraction, separation, and measurement of urinary ketosteroids (KS);1 and the values for colorimetric assays of total extract and for alpha1 and beta fractions. Here it is sufficient to state that urine was collected for three to six days, the exact period of time being stated for each subject (1). Extraction and separation of KS followed the procedures employed by Dobriner and colleagues (3). Colorimetric measurements were made by the method of Zimmermann (4) as modified by Holtorff and Koch (5).