MATERNAL AND UMBILICAL CORD PLASMA CONCENTRATIONS OF STEROIDS OF PREGN-4-ENE C-21-YL SULFATE SERIES AT TERM

11β-Hydroxy-3,20-diketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (corticosterone sulfate), 3,20-diketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (11-deoxycorticosterone sulfate), 3,11,20-triketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (11-dehydrocortico-sterone sulfate),11β,17α-dihydroxy-3,20-diketopregn-4-ene-21-yl sulfate (cortisol sulfate) as well as the corresponding steroid alcohols, and 17α,21-dihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (cortisone) were quantified and their concentrations compared in maternal plasma and in the corresponding plasma of the umbilical cord, in a series of seven normal deliveries. Corticosterone sulfate and 11-deoxycorticosterone sulfates were present in cord plasma in amounts comparable to those of 11β,17α, 21-trihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione (cortisol) while in maternal plasma their concentrations were very low. 11β,21-Dihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione (corticosterone) was detected in cord plasma in trace amounts. 21-Hydroxypregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (11-dehydrocorticosterone) and its sulfate ester were present in both circulations, but in significantly higher concentrations in umbilical cord plasma. Cortisol was the major steroid measured in maternal plasma; cortisone the predominant steroid in cord plasma. It is concluded that the cord plasma levels of cortisol and cortisone mainly reflect maternal concentration of cortisol but that 11-dehydrocorticosterone sulfate, corticosterone sulfate, and 11-deoxycorticosterone sulfate originate mostly from the foetal compartment. The hypothesis is expressed that the secretion of the latter two sulfates by the foetal adrenal could represent a block of the biosynthesis of 11β,21-dihydroxypregn-4-ene-3,20-dione-18-al (aldosterone)prior to birth. © 1968 Holden-Day, Inc.