Abstract
Quantitative determinations of the anterior-pituitary-like gonad-stimulating hormone and of oestrin have been made on the sera and urines of 27 women, both normal and toxemic, during late pregnancy, i. e., from 7 1/2 months to term. The Ascheim-Zondek and Allen-Doisy methods have been employed. Ten cases were normal, 14 were diagnosed toxemia without convulsions and 3 had eclampsia.
The following procedure was carried out in every instance. A mixed 24-hour specimen of urine was collected and measured. Forty cc. of blood were allowed to clot and the serum separated. For the Ascheim-Zondek test the amounts of urine and sera to be assayed were precipitated with 5 volumes of 95% alcohol, allowed to stand overnight and centrifuged. The precipitate was washed with ether and taken up in saline for injection into female rats 3 weeks old. A test was considered positive only if corpora lutea were grossly visible. In establishing the hormone content of each urine and serum 5 to 20 rats were used, depending upon how well the results agreed. For the Allen-Doisy assay extracts of the serum were made by precipitating the proteins with 95% alcohol, extracting the precipitate repeatedly with alcohol and ether, evaporating the combined supernatant fluids and taking up the residue in saline for injection into mature spayed female rats. The urine was not extracted. Six to 24 rats were used for establishing the oestrin content of each specimen, the smaller number being often necessary in the assays on sera because of the limited amount of material. The rats used were frequently tested with oestrin of known potency. A full oestrous smear in half the rats into whom a given amount of specimen was injected was considered positive.
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