A method for the estimation of 6-oxygenated metabolites of progesterone in urine.

1. A method is described for the estimation of the 6-oxygenated metabolites of progesterone in urine. After hydrolysis the extract of urine is chromatographed on alumina to obtain a fraction containing mainly the 6-oxygenated metabolites. This fraction is oxidized to convert the metabolites into pregnane-3,6,20-triones, which are estimated as the dinitrophenylhydrazones. 2. The reliability criteria of the method are presented. Normal subjects excrete 0.1-0.6mg./day, and at the end of pregnancy values of 3.3-11.6mg./day are obtained.