URINARY METABOLITES OF 4-14C-PROGESTERONE IN BABOON (PAPIO SPP)

The metabolism of intravenously administered 4-14C-progesterone was studied in papio sp. An average of 37% of the radioactivity was recovered in the urine and 15% in the feces. In the urine, 7% of the identified radioactivity was in the free form, 12% as sulfate and 59% as glucuronide. More polar, unidentified material represented 22%. The major, definitively identified metabolites were pregnanediols (41%) and androsterone (36%). Only the 3α,20α-pregnanediol isomers were found; the 5α and 5β forms were present in approximately equal quantities. It was estimated that progesterone production of the baboon corpus luteum proceeds at a much slower rate than in man. © 1969.