Studies on the Origin of Testosterone in the Urine of Normal Adult Subjects and Patients with Various Endocrine Disorders*

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Abstract
Various radioactive steroids were injected into normal subjects and patients to determine their contribution to urinary testosterone glucuronide. Minimal amounts of dehydroepiandrosterone and 17-hydroxypro-gesterone were metabolized to urinary testosterone glucuronide. The mean percentage conversion of androstenedione to testosterone glucuronide was 0.27% compared with 1.1 for testosterone. In view of these findings, urinary testosterone is not a unique metabolite of testosterone and cannot be used for estimation of testosterone secretion rate. On the other hand, this metabolite can be used for the determination of testosterone production rate. A correlation between the latter and biological androgenicity remains to be established.