The urinary excretion of testosterone and epitestosterone by women in late pregnancy has been studied. The mean values of 22 normal women in pregnancy mens X are 12.9 ± 9.2 μg/24 h in the case of testosterone and 16.1 ± 16.2 μg/24 h in the case of epitestosterone. Both values do not differ significantly from those of non-pregnant females.
The excretion values of mothers bearing a male foetus (17.3 ± 8.9 μg/24 h) are higher than those of mothers with a female foetus (6.4 ± 4.8 μg/24 h). The difference is statistically significant with P = 0.01.
Intravenous application of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) was performed in 6 women with normal progress of pregnancy, 3 pregnant women with multiple pregnancy and 4 pregnants with intrauterine death of the foetus (32nd to 38th week). The oestetrol concentrations in blood serum were estimated during 5 h after the injection. In most cases an increase could be observed, but this was inhomogenous. The oestetrol concentration even rises in cases of intrauterine death of the foetus. In 7 cases of uncomplicated pregnancies the DHEA-S loading test was done within 2 to 6 h before delivery. The oestetrol concentration in the cord serum of the newborns was not higher than in controls without DHEA-S application, whereas oestradiol in maternal serum showed the expected rise. We conclude that the determination of oestetrol after DHEA-S loading can not be used for the judgement of the foetal situation.
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