HORMONE METABOLITES IN BLOOD AND URINE OF DIABETIC PREGNANT PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT TOXEMIA

Abstract

IN 1934, Smith and Smith (20) reported that hormone metabolite concentrations in the urine and blood of toxemic patients differed from those found in normal pregnancy. The differences observed by these workers consisted in an increase in serum and urine levels of chorionic gonadotrophin and a decrease in serum and urine levels of estrogen. Browne, Henry and Venning (6), in 1938, reported a lowered excretion of pregnanediol associated with toxemic pregnancy. Since then these early reports have stimulated a number of investigations of the hormone metabolite levels in toxemic pregnancy. Among the contributors to this field are Bachman and his co-workers (1, 2, 3), Taylor and Scadron (28), Watts and Adair (32), and White and her co-workers (34–36). Normal levels have also been studied extensively by these workers, by Cope (9), and by Jones (15) and her co-workers. A summary of the results of investigations by various workers may be seen in Table 1, which was compiled in the following manner: in the column headed “Number of Toxemics” only those patients were considered for whom individual data were reported.