Gas Chromatographic Determination of Urinary Excretion of Testosterone, Epitestosterone and Androstenedione in Pre-adolescent and Adolescent Children

Urinary excretion levels of testosterone, epitestosterone, and androstenedione were measured in 32 pre-adolescent and adolescent boys, ages 6.2–19.0 yr, using gas chromatography. Testosterone was detected (range 3.1 to 10.9 μg/24 hr) in 100% of the samples assayed between ages 6.2 to 13.2 yr. Epitestosterone was found (range 0 to 7.3 μg/24 hr) in 64% of the specimens of the same age group. Androstenedione was detected (range 0 to 3.8 μg/24 hr) in 15% of the samples. Following age 13.2 yr there was a steep rise in testosterone excretion levels. Epitestosterone also increased with chronological age. Androstenedione began to rise gradually at age 13.4 yr with a significant increase at age 14.6 yr. When a stage of pubertal development (I–V) was assigned to each male and compared with androgen excretion it was observed that boys with advanced sexual maturation excreted more testosterone irrespective of chronological age. Mean urinary testosterone levels in Stages I–V were 6.1 ± 0.9, 11.9 ± 3.5, 68.5 ± 46.6, 11...