A Quantitative Study of the Urinary Excretion of Hypophyseal Gonadotropin, Estrogen, and Neutral 17-ketosteroids of Normal Men.

The urinary output of hypophyseal gonadotropin by normal women has proven exceedingly variable from month to month (1, 2). Thus, the usefulness of gonadotropin assays for clinical purposes has been disappointing and is now limited to the demonstration of large excesses of hormone. The status of the gonadotropin assay as a potential diagnostic measure in men is still in doubt. More normal data are needed to detail the normal range of excretion and to settle the disagreement between Harris and Brand (3) and Heller, Heller, and Severinghaus (4), concerning the presence of a cycle in men. Accordingly, the present study was undertaken. Concurrent assays of estrogens and neutral 17-ketosteroids were done to determine any correlation with gonadotropin output. The output of these sex hormones follows the pattern described by Gallagher, et al. (5), except that in their studies androgens were assayed in capons.