PREGNANETRIOL, PREGNANEDIOL AND OESTROGEN EXCRETION DURING ANOVULATORY MENSTRUAL CYCLES AND IN A PREMENOPAUSAL ADRENALECTOMIZED WOMAN

Abstract

SUMMARY: The urinary excretion of pregnanetriol, pregnanediol and oestrogens was measured throughout five anovulatory cycles in three subjects, and throughout an anovulatory cycle and an ovulatory cycle in an adrenalectomized subject. Cyclical changes in pregnanetriol excretion, which paralleled the changes in oestrogen output, were observed during some of the anovulatory cycles and also during the ovulatory cycle in the adrenalectomized subject. These findings suggest that one factor contributing to the increase in pregnanetriol excretion during the normal ovulatory menstrual cycle is the secretion by the ovary, at times of maximal oestrogen secretion, of a precursor (possibly 17α-hydroxyprogesterone) common to both oestrogens and pregnanetriol. However, that other factors are probably also involved is suggested by the particular pattern of pregnanetriol excretion during the normal ovulatory cycle and by the finding that the increase in pregnanetriol excretion at about the time of ovulation is usually greater than the increase found in the anovulatory cycle.