URINARY 17-KETOSTEROIDS IN THE SYNDROME OF POLYCYSTIC OVARIES AND HYPERTHECOSIS*

Abstract

The urinary 17-Ketosteroid pattern was studied in 27 patients with polycystic ovaries and hyperthecosis (Stein-Leventhal syndrome). After dioxane-HCl hydrolysis of the steroids from a butanol extract of urine, the 17-ketosteroids were separated by column chromatography on silica gel, into three groups: androsterone + etiocholanolone (A + E); dehydroepiandrosterone; and the 11-oxy 17-ketosteroids. The mean value for total 17-ketosteroids was nigher in the patients with the Stein-Leventhal syndrome than in normal women (P < 0.01), most of the difference being due to an increase in the A + E fraction (P< 0.05). A study was made of the behavior of the three urinary 17-Ketosteroid fractions during stimulation with ACTH, suppression with 9a-fluoro-hydrocortisone, stimulation with HCG, estrogen therapy, and at intervals after bilateral wedge resection of tne ovaries. The results permit no conclusions regarding adrenocortical versus ovarian origin of this increased secretion of urinary A + E presursor.