In vitro steroid synthesis by foetal rabbit adrenals

Adrenal tissue homogenates from foetal rabbits in late gestation and their mothers were incubated with [7α-3H] pregnenolone and analyzed for conversion products by reverse isotope dilution procedures. Deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone were synthesized as main products by foetal as well as by adult adrenals. In addition, small amounts of progesterone, 17-hydroxypregnenolone and cortisol were formed by both adrenals. No C19-steroids and 16α-hydroxysteroids could be found. The results indicate a similarity in the qualitative metabolic pattern of pregnenolone by adrenal cortical tissue of late gestation rabbit foetuses to that of adult rabbits. However, the activity of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase per gram tissue in the foetal rabbit adrenal was of the order of one tenth that in the adrenals of their mothers. By using [3H] progesterone as substrate, the activities of 21-hydroxylase and 11β-hydroxylase in the foetal adrenal were similarly demonstrated to be less than that of the adrenal of the mother.

Plasma testosterone and urinary steroids in Japanese women with polycystic ovaries

Urinary metabolites of cortisol, 11-oxy-17-ketosteroids, 11-deoxy-17-ketosteroids and oestrogens were measured in 8 normal Japanese women and 21 Japanese patients with polycystic ovaries, both before and after dexamethasone administration or ovarian stimulation with human menopausal gonadotrophin under adrenal suppression. Plasma testosterone was estimated in 12 normal women and also in 9 of the patients.

It has been suggested that polycystic ovaries secrete significantly larger quantities of androgens than normal ovaries, even though very few Japanese women with polycystic ovaries show any signs of hirsutism. Although the patients had higher mean plasma testosterone value (58 ± 35 (sd) ng/100 ml) than the normal controls (30 ± 15 (sd) ng/100 ml), only 2 of the 9 patients had plasma testosterone values higher than the normal range. Of the 9 patients, hirsutism was found in the one who showed the highest value (141 ng/100). No evidence of the failure of oestrogen formation from androgens was obtained in Japanese women with polycystic ovaries.