THE URINARY EXCRETION OF ANDROGENIC AND ESTROGENIC SUBSTANCES IN CERTAIN ENDOCRINE STATES. STUDIES IN HYPOGONADISM, GYNECOMASTIA AND VIRILISM 1

Abstract

Benzene extracts of hydrolyzed urine were assayed for their androgenic properties upon capons and for their estrogenic properties upon adult spayed rats. Two castrated men excreted traces of these substances. Seven eunuchoids excreted on the average 1/3 of the normal amount of both substances. Four patients with gyne-comastia excreted no excess of estrogenic material. 16 patients with virilism excreted as a rule normal amounts of androgens, a moderate excess on occasion, and the great excess of 480 international units per day in 1 individual with a carcinoma of the adrenal cortex. The urine of this patient possessed the spectrographic properties of testosterone, androstenedione, or certain compounds derived from the adrenal cortex and unlike androsterone.