17-Hydroxycorticosteroids in urine.

A new method has been devised to extract 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17OH-CS) from a hydrolyzed urine using an EXTUBE fiber column. This extraction was combined with a modified Porter-Silber color reaction to quantitate total urinary 17OH-CS. The new method takes only half the time required in older methods. Recovery of tetrahydrocortisone in the new method was improved to 85--95% compared with 70% in the previous method. Between-run precision (C.V.%) was concentration dependent in both methods and was improved to 5--7% compared with 10--18% in the previous method. Evidence was obtained to demonstrate that the new methodology would provide the same information and interpretation as the older, more cumbersome method.