[Urinary excretion of steroid hormone and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity in normal young adult women].

The urinary steroid hormone metabolites and the ratio of pregnenetriol (delta 5P3) to pregnanetriol (P3) as indicators of 3 beta HSD activity in the urine of healthy young female were measured by means of capillary gas chromatography. All of the subjects have finished the normal pubertal development, and their adrenal steroid hormone secretion had reached to the stable state. We analyzed the diurnal variation, fluctuation during menstrual cycle and seasonal variation of delta 5P3/P3. We found that the hormone excretion in the urine of the morning during the follicular phase of menstrual cycle was relatively stable, and that the ratio of delta 5P3/P3 correlated highly with that in the total daily urine. In the seasonal variation, the urinary delta 5P3/P3 ratio in the subjects of high urinary DHEA group was relatively high, and that of the low DHEA group was low. Although the difference of delta 5P3/P3 ratio of the both groups was small, but statistically significant. Individual difference in the delta 5P3/P3 ratio was relatively small in comparison with that of the urinary DHEA excretion. About 5% of the all subjects showed marked high value of delta 5P3/P3 ratio. About 80% of the high urinary excretion group showed higher value than the average delta 5P3/P3 ratio. These findings suggest that the normal young female subjects were divided into several groups with regard to the urinary DHEA excretion pattern and delta 5P3/P3 ratio in the urine. Both of them may be a specific individual marker.