The Male Sex Hormones of Human Urine and Blood

Adler (1) in 1934 demonstrated that a physiologically inactive extract of human male urine can be obtained with butyl alcohol and that, by subsequent heating with strong acid, the inactive extract can be converted into a potent material which promotes the growth of the combs of capons. Peterson, Gallagher, and Koch (2) in 1937 confirmed the acid hydrolysis of the inactive form and have determined the optimum time of hydrolysis by boiling urine acidified with one-tenth by volume of commercial hydrochloric acid. It is well known that the active forms of the comb growthpromoting substances are water-insoluble and lipid-soluble. Dingemanse, Borchardt, and Laqueur (3) in 1937 demonstrated that the inactive form is water-soluble and lipid-insoluble. They have also discovered the important facts that the inactive form is not made lipid-soluble by even prolonged boiling with strong aqueous or alcoholic potassium hydroxide and that the latent activity is not destroyed by such treatment, for, if followed by acid hydrolysis, the active form is completely recoverable, as shown in tests made by injection into capons. Dingemanse and Laqueur (4) have studied methods of avoiding destruction of androgens while activating the inactive form with hydrochloric acid. Recently, Peterson, Hoskins, Coffman, and Koch (5) have found that normal butyl alcohol extracts all the androgenic material from male urine and that this material is practically all in an inactive form. At the same time McCullagh, Osborn, and Osgard (6) made a similar preliminary report of the experiments discussed in this paper. Experiments designed to throw further light on the properties of the free and inactive androgens in urine have been carried out