THE EXCRETION OF PETTENKOFER CHROMOGENS BY HEALTHY SUBJECTS AND PATIENTS WITH VARIOUS ENDOCRINE DISORDERS*

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Abstract
The earlier procedure by which dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) was estimated on the basis of its digitonin precipitability and the Zimmermann reaction is of limited significance, because the 2 artifacts ( [DELTA]5 -3[beta]-chloroandrosterone-17 and [DELTA] 3-5-androstadienone-17) that are produced from DHA during hot-acid hydrolysis are not precipitable by digitonin. Among the different analytical procedures for estimating DHA, one that is commonly applied is the method of Munson et al., in which the Pettenkofer reaction is performed for the determination of DHA and its 2 chief artifacts. In the present study, the Zimmermann and Pettenkofer reactions were performed on the ketonic alpha and beta fractions of extracts obtained from the urine of healthy persons, patients with various endocrine disorders, and after administration of ACTH to patients with adrenocortical insufficiency. 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids were assayed in all cases as a control for adrenal activity. Determination of Pettenkofer chromogens in the urinary ketonic extracts after hot-acid hydrolysis yielded a mean value for normal subjects that represented 31 [plus or minus] 4.5 per cent of the total 17-ketosteroid (17-KS) output in both males and females. The mean values for Pettenkofer chromogens in various endocrine disorders ranged from 0.15 mg. to 9.72 mg. per twenty-four hours, representing from 8 to 98 per cent of the total 17-KS excretion. The sum of the Pettenkofer chromogens in the alpha plus beta fraction after digitonin precipitation averaged 81 per cent of the value for the unfractionated extract. Recovery of Zimmermann chromogens measured in the same alpha plus beta fraction was 94 per cent of the value for the unfractionated extract. Thus there is unspecific Pettenkofer chromogenic material in the urinary ketonic fractions after hot-acid hydrolysis. This may, in part, account for the high values commonly obtained for urinary DHA when the Pettenkofer reaction was performed with those extracts. Although the excretion of Pettenkofer chromogens is considered to reflect adrenal activity and may have clinical significance, values for these chromogens in the neutral ketonic fraction after hot-acid hydrolysis must not be taken as the urinary output of DHA.