Metabolism of progesterone-4-C14 in a postmenopausal woman with a biliary fistula

The distribution of radioactivity in bile and urine after injection of progesterone-4-C14 was studied as a function of time in a normal postmenopausal woman with a biliary fistula. The amounts of methylene chloride-soluble (“free”) steroid and the material which became chloroform-soluble after hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase were measured and analyzed by paper chromatography. The major amount of radioactivity was excreted in the bile. Both bile and urine contained pregnanediol, pregnanolone and some unidentified polar material, all of which were released by β-glucuronidase hydrolysis. Characterization of pregnanediol and pregnanolone was based on chromatographic mobility and carrier experiments using authentic steroids.