Semi-micro quantitative analysis of complex urinary steroid mixtures in healthy and diseased states

A method for the determination of urinary steroid hormones in healthy and diseased states is described. The use of a Van den Berg all-glass injector coupled to a fused silica column has shown a dramatic increase in sensitivity and a significant reduction in gas chromatography analytical time. The increase in sensitivity also eliminates the need for processing large volumes of urine. The method has proven to be rapid, precise, reproducible and sensitive. Also, column life is increased due to the absence of solvent. This technique has shown to have broad applications in the analysis of such classes of compounds as sugars, steroids, prostaglandins and fatty acids.