Longitudinal Study of Progestins, Mineralocorticoids, and Glucocorticoids throughout Human Pregnancy*

The maternal adrenal cortex seems to be involved in the adaptation to pregnancy. To study in detail adrenocortical secretion during pregnancy, we measured plasma aldosterone, corticosterone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisol, and cortisone simultaneously by RIA after extraction and automated Sephadex LH-20 chromatography of 10 normal pregnant women longitudinally throughout pregnancy at weeks 8–10, 14–17, 21–24, 28–32, and 38 as well as at the time of admission to the delivery room. The mean plasma progesterone and 17-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations increased from 37.2 ± 6.5 (± se) and 8.2 ± 1.0 nmol/L, respectively, in early gestation to maximum levels of 138.0 ± 25.7 and 22.8 ± 2.2 nmol/L at week 38 (P < 0.01). Plasma glucocorticoid levels rose 2- to 3-fold (P < 0.01) from weeks 8–10 (corticosterone, 18.5 ± 5.4; 11-deoxycortisol, 1.9 ± 0.2; cortisone, 24.2 ± 4.2; cortisol, 195.5 ± 37.6 nmol/L) to week 38 (corticosterone, 42.9 ± 11.2; 11-deoxycort...