The delta 5-3 beta-hydroxy steroid acyl transferase activities in tissues of the male rat and sheep

Fatty acid esters of steroids: synthesis and metabolism in lipoproteins and adipose tissue

At the end of the last century ideas concerning the physiological role of the steroid fatty acid ester family were emerging. Estrogens, fatty acylated at C-17 hydroxyl group and incorporated in lipoproteins were proposed to provide antioxidative protection to these particles. A large number of studies involving non-estrogenic adrenal steroids, and their fatty acylated forms, demonstrated their lipoprotein-mediated transport into cells and subsequent intracellular activation, suggesting a novel transport mechanism for lipophilic steroid derivatives. After these important advances the main focus of interest has shifted away from C-19 and C-21 steroids to fatty acylated estrogens. However, interest in their lipoprotein-mediated transport has decreased because only minute amounts of these derivatives were detected in circulating lipoproteins, and their antioxidative activity remained unconfirmed under physiological circumstances. It now appears that the overwhelming majority of estradiol in postmenopausal women resides in adipose tissue, most of it in esterified form. This is poorly reflected in plasma levels which are very low. Recent data suggest that estrogen fatty acid esters probably represent a storage form. The future focus of investigation is likely to be on firstly, the enzymatic mechanisms regulating the esterification and de-esterification of estradiol and other steroids residing in adipose tissue and secondly, on the role of insulin and other hormones in the regulation of these enzymatic mechanisms. Thirdly, as a large proportion of fatty acid esterified C-19 and C-21 non-estrogenic steroids is transported in lipoproteins and as they are important precursors of androgens and estrogens, this field should be investigated further.

Estradiol fatty acid esters in adipose tissue and serum of pregnant and pre- and postmenopausal women

CONTEXT

The 17beta-estradiol fatty acid esters are hormone derivatives with long-lasting estrogenic effect. They are transported in serum lipoproteins and thought to be sequestered in adipose tissue.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to determine the 17beta-estradiol fatty acid ester concentrations in serum and adipose tissue in women of various hormonal states.

DESIGN

After several chromatographic steps separating esterified from free estradiol, time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay was used as a quantifying tool.

PARTICIPANTS

Samples were obtained from pregnant women undergoing cesarean section (n = 13), or premenopausal (n = 8) and postmenopausal women (n = 6) during gynecological surgery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

17beta-Estradiol and 17beta-estradiol fatty acid ester concentrations in serum, and visceral and sc adipose tissue were examined.

RESULTS

The ratio of esterified to free estradiol in plasma increased with decreasing estradiol level from 0.5% in pregnant, to 15% in premenopausal and 110% in postmenopausal women. Estradiol esters constituted about 10% of the free estradiol present in adipose tissue in pregnancy. In nonpregnant women, most of the adipose tissue estradiol was in esterified form, the median ester to free ratio being elevated to 150-490%. After menopause, the overwhelming majority of estradiol in both free and esterified form was present in adipose tissue.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall higher ester to free estradiol ratio in adipose tissue than in serum indicates active esterification capacity in adipose tissue. The predominance of esterified and free estradiol in postmenopausal adipose tissue compared with serum suggests in situ production and storage. Whether the estradiol esters have an independent physiological role in adipose tissue remains to be clarified.

Progesterone and its metabolites increase myelin basic protein expression in organotypic slice cultures of rat cerebellum

We have previously shown that progesterone (PROG) is synthesized by Schwann cells and promotes myelin formation in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). We now report that this neurosteroid also stimulates myelination in organotypic slice cultures of 7-day-old (P7) rat and mouse cerebellum. Myelination was evaluated by immunofluorescence analysis of the myelin basic protein (MBP). After 7 days in culture (7DIV), we found that adding PROG (2(-5) x 10(-5) M) to the culture medium caused a fourfold increase in MBP expression when compared to control slices. The effect of PROG on MBP expression involves the classical intracellular PROG receptor (PR): the selective PR agonist R5020 significantly increased MBP expression and the PR antagonist mifepristone (RU486) completely abolished the effect of PROG on this MBP expression. Moreover, treatment of P7-cerebellar slice cultures from PR knockout (PRKO) mice with PROG had no significant effect on MBP expression. PROG was metabolized in the cerebellar slices to 5alpha-dihydroprogesterone (5alpha-DHP) and to the GABAA receptor-active metabolite 3alpha,5alpha-tetrahydroprogesterone (3alpha,5alpha-THP, allopregnanolone). The 5alpha-reductase inhibitor L685-273 partially inhibited the effect of PROG, and 3alpha,5alpha-THP (2(-5) x 10(-5) M) significantly stimulated the MBP expression, although to a lesser extent than PROG. The increase in MBP expression by 3alpha,5alpha-THP involved GABAA receptors, as it could be inhibited by the selective GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline. These findings suggest that progestins stimulate MBP expression and consequently suggest an increase in CNS myelination via two signalling systems, the intracellular PR and membrane GABAA receptors, and they confirm a new role of GABAA receptors in myelination.

Effect of clofibrate administration on the esterification and deesterification of steroid hormones by liver and extrahepatic tissues in rats

Treatment of rats with clofibrate markedly stimulated the liver microsomal esterification of estradiol, testosterone, pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and corticosterone by acyl-CoA:steroid acyltransferase. This enzyme catalyzes the esterification of estradiol with long-chain fatty acids in both liver and extrahepatic tissues. In untreated control rats, brain had the highest acyltransferase activity per milligram of microsomal protein for estradiol esterification (3- to 4-fold higher than in the liver). Although, treatment of rats with clofibrate stimulated the esterification of estradiol by 9- to 14-fold in the liver, estradiol esterification in kidney, lung, brain, uterus, fat, and mammary glands was not increased, indicating that liver may be uniquely sensitive to induction of acyl-CoA:estradiol acyltransferase by clofibrate. In additional studies, esterase activity for hydrolysis of the oleoyl ester of estradiol was determined in control and clofibrate-treated rats. Clofibrate administration increased esterase activity by an average of 107% in fat and 70% in liver. The results indicate that treatment of rats with clofibrate stimulates the hepatic formation of highly lipophilic fatty acid esters that can be hydrolyzed in the liver and in extrahepatic tissues to the parent steroid hormone by a clofibrate-inducible esterase.