A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF 17-KETOSTEROIDS, DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE, AND 17-HYDROXYCORTICOSTEROIDS IN SERUM

Abstract

A simple procedure is described which permits the determination for clinical purposes of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids, 17-ketosteroids aad dehydroepiandrosterone in only 10 ml. of serum. The process of extraction and purification of the hydroxycorticosteroids follows the procedure of Nelson-Samuels coupled with the Silber-Porter assay. The method for determination of the 17-ketosteroids incorporates the principles of solvolysis as described by Burstein and Lieberman. This procedure yields results equivalent to those obtained with the more tedious alcohol extraction followed by simultaneous hydrolysis and extraction with ether at pH 1. A clean-up procedure based on the Drekter sodium hydroxide pellet technique has been used and found to aid in improving the specificity of the method. A micro-technique has been developed for the blue chromogen reaction of Allen and applied to the determination of dehydroepiandrosterone. A discussion of the development of the method is included, together with values for a group of normal males and females.