A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR THE ROUTINE MEASUREMENT OF URINARY ESTRIOL*

Abstract

A method for the measurement of urinary estriol, suitable for the hospital laboratory, is described. It involves enzymatic hydrolysis of urinary estriol glucuronide, ether extraction, rapid saponification, simplified column chromatography, and fluorometry. The specificity of the assay has been checked by comparing the amount of estriol so obtained with the amount of estriol methyl ether isolated from the same extract of urine after methylation and re-chromatography. The method has been shown to be sensitive and accurate by the performance of recovery experiments with estriol glucuronide added to urine and by means of duplicate analyses of urine, which agree within 10 per cent. Assay results correlate well with cyclic changes in the secretory function of the ovaries during the menstrual cycle, and with other measurements of adrenocortical hyperfunction in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The method can detect increased estrogen secretion by the adrenal cortex in response to the administration of ACTH.