Urinary Excretion of 17-Ketosteroids in Ovarian Failure I. In Hirsutism and Virilizing Syndromes1

DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS various members of our group have been engaged in a study of the gynecic roles of androgens. A number of reports of these studies have dealt with the urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroids under diverse conditions (1-6). The present series of communications considers the levels of excretion of these compounds in various grades of ovarian failure. I. In hirsutism and in virilining syndromes; II. In functional menometrorrhagia; III. In amenorrhea and IV. During the climacteric. These studies are reported for the purpose of discussing and defining, if possible, the reciprocities in function which may exist between estrogenic function of the ovaries and androgenic function of the adrenal, that is, the hormonal relations of the gonado’ pituitary and adreno-pituitary axes. Previous studies by our group have suggested that secondary or late ovarian failure (estrogenic type) may be associated with increase in androgenic function of the adrenal (2, 6).