Variability in conjugates of ethynylestradiol produced by in vitro incubation of human liver tissue

Human liver tissue obtained at diagnostic needle biopsy from subjects with and without clinical liver disease was incubated with 9,11-³H-ethynylestradiol. Chromatography on Sephadex LH-20 yielded five groups of conjugated metabolites with different mobilities. The presence and relative proportions of these groups varied greatly between individuals, both in normal and diseased subjects. No consistent sex difference was observed. This variability may represent local differences in the metabolic activity of liver tissue, or it may be representative of whole liver function; similar variation has been seen in the urinary pattern of conjugated metabolites as well, but correlation of the two remains to be established.