No abstract

In a 47-year-old male suffering from bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis and renal amyloidosis, post-mortem examination of the adrenals revealed amyloid degeneration of the zona reticularis, the other adrenocortical zones being apparently intact. A thorough analysis of the endocrine functions during the last period of his life showed an abnormally low production of C19-steroids, even following corticotrophin stimulation. The formation of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids was found to be normal, while, on the other hand, the aldosterone excretion was elevated. These findings may imply that the synthesis of adrenal C19-steroids takes place in the reticular zone, while the C21-steroids apparently can be formed predominantly in the zona fasciculata.

No abstract

In thirteen patients with liver insufficiency the amount of total urinary 17-hydroxycorticosteroids, as well as of the β-glucuronidase hydrolysable 17-hydroxycorticosteroid fraction, was determined. The material consisted of 13 subjects divided into two groups, the first group comprising 8 patients with severe liver insufficiency and the second group consisting of 5 patients with less pronounced signs of deficient liver function. Both groups were found to excrete significantly smaller amounts of total 17-hydroxycorticosteroids than a normal control group. With regard to the β-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid conjugated fraction, only the first group of patients seemed to deviate from the control group, showing a subnormal percentage conjugate excretion.

The usefulness of partition chromatography on cellulose columns has been tried in fractionation of urinary corticosteroids. As the chromatographic system toluene/propylene glycol has been used. During the first part of the experiments the determination of the corticosteroid content in the chromatographic fractions was carried out by measuring their reducing power against phosphomolybdic acid. Provided the right conditions were used, a satisfactory separation was obtained of the following steroids in mixture: 11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-dehydrocorticosterone, 11-deoxy-17-hydroxycorticosterone, corticosterone, cortisone, dihydrocortisone, tetrahydrocortisone, cortisol and tetrahydrocortisol. Aldosterone appeared in the same fractions as cortisone. By means of the borohydride-bismuthate reaction and a correction by the Allen formula in the subsequent spectrophotometry, an approximatively specific determination of a series of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in urine extracts could be obtained.