Measurement of Urinary Steroids; The Methods Which

Abstract

17 - Ketosteroids, 17-ketogenic steroids and 17-Hydroxy -corticosteroids, the major and clinically important urinary stero¬ids are largly originated from adrenal cortex and in some extent from gonads. These steroids have been and still are measured by Zimmerman and Porter-Silber colorimetric methods. At the time these measurements were considered highly valuable replacement for time consuming bioassays. Unfortunately, none of these assays are reliable indicator of the biological activity of specific steroids secreted by the endocrine glands. Therefore, considering such deficiencies and improvement techniques with higher sensi¬tivity and specificity for endocrine evaluation, it seems that colorimetric assays should be abandoned. In this article the disadvantages of these assays are described and new methods for evaluation of steroids are introduced.