CONCENTRATIONS OF URINARY OESTRONE-3-GLUCURONIDE, LH AND PREGNANEDIOL-3-ALPHA-GLUCURONIDE AS INDEXES OF OVARIAN-FUNCTION

Methods based upon the principles of raioimmunoassay have been developed and evaluated for the measurement of oestrone-3-glucuronide, LH and pregnanediol-3α-glucuronide in samples of unextracted urine. The procedures have been applied to daily urine (early morning fraction and combined 24 hour collections) from 6 women throughout one complete menstrual cycle and to serial samples from an additional 14 women who only collected early morning specimens. The results showed that there were characteristic, well-defined changes in the concentration of all 3 metabolites in both samples of urine and from all subjects. In addition, there was a reasonable correlation between the concentration of all 3 compounds in samples of early morning urine and the corresponding rates of excretion per 24 hours. These findings suggest that the procedures may be of value for monitoring ovarian function over long periods of time, without the problems of stress and inconvenience to the patient. Furthermore, the ratio of values for oestrone-3-glucuronide to pregnanediol-3α-glucuronide may be used to indicate the start and finish of the fertile period.