Extraction of Steroid Conjugates from Urine Using Charcoal as an Adsorbent

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Abstract
The extraction of steroid conjugates from human urine using charcoal as an adsorbent has been investigated using urine specimens containing radioactive, naturally occurring conjugates of various steroid hormones. Following adsorption, the conjugates were removed from the charcoal by elution with ammoniacal ethanol. The recovered radioactive materials were examined by partition column chromatography in order to establish that the extracted metabolites remained in the conjugated form. The recoveries were comparable to those obtained by the ether-ethanol extraction procedure of Edwards et al. Analysis of the conjugated metabolites of cortisol isolated by charcoal suggested that they were unaltered by the adsorption procedure. The results of this study disclose that adsorption on charcoal can serve as the basis for a simple and efficient method for the recovery of steroid conjugates from urine. (J Clin Endocr 25: 808, 1965).