Urinary Excretion of 17-Hydroxy- and 17-Deoxysteroids of the Pregn-4-ene Series by the Human Newborn

The urinary excretion of 11β, 17α-dihydroxy-3,20-diketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (cortisol sulfate), 17α-hydroxy-3,11,20-triketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (cortisone sulfate) and of 11β-hydroxy-3,20-diketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (corticosterone sulfate) by newborn infants aged 2 and 6 days was quantified by double isotope dilution derivative assays and compared to that of known metabolites of cortisol and corticosterone. In a series of 7 newborns the sum of the urinary concentrations of cortisol and coitisone sulfates on the 2nd day of life represented represented from 43 to 114% of the amount of tetrahydrocortisone glucuronide, and on the 6th day from 8 to 155%. Corticosterone sulfate was excreted in amounts consistently much higher than tetrahydrocorticosterone glucuronide. It is concluded that the presence of these sulfate esters in urine reflects the existence of yet another pathway of corticosteioid biosynthesis and/or metabolism of particular significance during the perinatal period.