Determination of Estrone, 17B-Estradiol and Estriol in Urine of Young Adults

A study was made of the urinary excretion of estrogens of healthy university students consuming self-selected diets living under home conditions (4 men and 5 women). Two 31-day test periods were used. During the two test periods, two meal patterns were used; three meals a day or two meals a day with no lunch. Weight was kept constant. Calories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat of their diets were calculated. Urine specimens were collected twice a week, and additional samples were also collected on specified days for female subjects. Urinary estrogens were determined by using Brown\u27s method (1955, 1957) with some modifications. The excretion values of the three individual estrogens, by both men and women showed that 17 B-estradiol was usually present in least amounts and estriol in greatest amounts. The total estrogen value for the women was much higher than that for the men. The mean values were 33.5 and 15.4 meg per day for women and men, respectively. The menstrual cycle did affect the excretion of estrogen which showed higher estrogen values during the middle of the cycle and again between the third and fourth week. However, this increase was less than the first time. There was no definite evidence that the meal frequency had any effect on the excretion of estrogens in human urine. Further work including a greater number of subjects, daily analyses during the menstrual cycle, and increasing the meal frequency is desirable and is recommended to obtain more reliable basic data on young adults maintained in their usual home living conditions