A simple method for urine estrogen determination of nonpregnant women

Summary A new method for quantitating urinary estrogen by gasliquid chromatography is described. A minimum of 50 cm³ of urine sample is required for the preliminary enzyme hydrolysis. The hydrolysate is extracted with a mixture of ether and ethyl acetate followed by multiple washes or rotary evaporation to eliminate interfering emulsions. The estrogen fractions are silylated, concentrated and chromatographed on a 3% OV-225 column. This method combines the advantages of several procedures while eliminating many of the adverse reactions previously encountered. The method is sufficiently sensitive to quantitate estrogens in the nanogram range.