Use of magnesium silicate before gas-liquid chromatography for determination of "total estrogens" in urine during pregnancy.

The authors propose a simple, rapid, reproducible and reliable method for determination of "total estrogens" in urine during the last three months of pregnancy. The procedure consists of separation of free urinary estrogens, obtained after rapid hydrolysis, on a column of magnesium silicate. The estrogens are adsorbed on the column at acid pH and eluted by 1 M potassium hydroxide. Following extraction of the eluate by diethyl ether and formation of trimethylsilyl ether derivatives, the steroids are analysed by gas-liquid chromatography. This new procedure is used routinely in our laboratory, one assay being carried out in less than three hours. The results appear to be comparable to those obtained with classic methods. We wish to report the elimaination curves of "total estrogens" during normal pregnancies and their allowable limits.