[Determination of progesterone in urine by a competitive protein binding method (author's transl)]

A new method, based on the principle of competitive protein binding, is described for the determination of progesterone in urine. The sensitivity of the assay for progesterone is 0.24 micrograms/l urine. The within-assay precision, as determined by the coefficient of variation, varies between 4 and 10%, the between assay precision between 9.2 and 17%. The recovery of progesterone is 104.3%. The average urinary progesterone excretion in normal men is 0.12 +/- 0.10 micrograms/g creatinine. In the follicular phase of 17 normal women the urinary progesterone excretion is 1.4 +/- 1.1 micrograms/g creatinine, in the luteal phase 7.7 +/- 4.6 micrograms/g creatinine. In normal pregnancy the urinary progesterone excretion rises significantly (y = -11.1 +/- 1.1 x, r = 0.66, n = 175, p < 0.001) from 1.5 to 25.7 micrograms/g creatinine.