Abstract
Steroid excretion of infants with and without adrenal disease has been determined during the first weeks of life. Steroid conjugates were hydrolysed before conversion to thermostable derivatives for gas chromatographic (GC) analysis and combined GC-mass spectrometry. During the first days of life, steroid sulphates derived from the fetal adrenal zone predominate in all infants. These steroids were separated from the products of the definitive adrenal cortex which are excreted as free steroids and conjugates with glucuronic acid. Cortisol in the normal newborn is excreted as lB and 6 hydroxylated metabolites. From studies of infants with adrenal hyperplasia cortisol biosynthetic precursors are metabolised differently in the neonatal period compared with their subsequent fate. Hence 17-hydroxyprogesterone is subject to active 15B-hydroxylation while 11-deoxycortisol is 6 -hydroxylated. These hydroxylation reactions are of minor importance after the first weeks of life. In premature infants the daily excretion rates of 5-ene steroids showed low amplitude oscillatory patterns with frequency like the pattern of maternal oestrogen excretion in the last trimester. No such pattern was observed from the excretion of cortisol metabolites. Thus, steroid reactions of the fetus are retained variably in neonatal life and the fate of steroids must be considered when evaluating the function and role of the adrenal at this time of life.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Honour, J., Wickramaratne, K. & Tsang, W. 129 PROFILES OF STEROID EXCRETION IN THE NEONATAL PERIOD. Pediatr Res 19, 625 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198506000-00149
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198506000-00149