THE DETERMINATION OF SMALL QUANTITIES OF URINARY OESTRONE, OESTRADIOL-17β AND OESTRIOL USING ITTRICH'S EXTRACTION METHOD

Abstract

SUMMARY: 1. The purification step described by Ittrich (1958) has been incorporated in the method of Brown, Bulbrook & Greenwood (1957b) for estimating urinary oestrogens. 2. When the Kober colours given by urinary oestrone, oestradiol-17β and oestriol are extracted with tetrachloroethane containing p-nitrophenol, the decrease in the absorption due to impurities is such that the Kober reaction can be scaled down and micro-cells used in the measurement of the final colours. 3. Amounts of urinary oestrogens as low as 0·5 μg./24 hr. specimen can be measured with a reasonable degree of accuracy and precision. 4. The results with the new method show that the method of Brown et al. (1957b) gives over-estimates of approx. 1 μg. oestrone and 1 μg. oestriol/24 hr. urine specimen when used for the estimation of urinary oestrogens of low titre.