Characterization of 17-Deoxy- and 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids in Human Liquor Amnii

ABSTRACT From a pool of liquor amnii the following steroids were characterized by a method combining double isotope derivative assays and crystallization: the glucuronides of tetrahydrocortisone and tetrahydrocortisol, and the sulfates of cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, 11-dehydrocorticosterone and 11-deoxycorticosterone, as well as the corresponding steroid alcohols with the exception of 11-deoxy corticosterone. The concentration of tetrahydrocortisone glucuronide was the highest (123 μ/1). Those of cortisol sulfate, cortisone sulfate and corticosterone sulfate were 30, 31 and 48 μg/1 respectively. 17-Deoxycorticosteroids were identified almost exclusively as sulfates, while cortisol and cortisone were also present in the unconjugated form at concentrations representing 60 and 35% of those of their respective sulfates. This pattern of corticosteroids bears a strong similarity to that observed in the urine of the newborn infant, and suggests the possibility that cortisol and cortisone are metabolized...