title: Urinary concentrations of steroid glucuronides in women taking oral contraceptives.
abstract: The aim of this study was to use measurements of urinary steroid glucuronides to confirm the suppression of ovulation of ovulation in women taking oral contraceptives. Urinary concentrations of oestrone-3-glucuronide (E1G) and pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide (Pd-3-G) were measured by radioimmunoassay in early morning urine samples from six normally-menstruating women and six women who were taking combined oral contraceptives. In the normally-menstruating women, E1G concentrations, and the E1G/Pd-3-G ratio, increased 2-3 fold before ovulation. There was no midcycle increase in either measure in women taking oral contraceptives. We suggest that measurement of these steroid metabolites provides a means of assessing the anti-ovulatory effects of oral contraceptives.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004970:Estrone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010060:Ovulation / Q000187:drug effects; D011276:Pregnanediol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
chemical_list: D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined; C022270:pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide; C015856:estrone-3-glucuronide; D004970:Estrone; D011276:Pregnanediol