The control of adrenal androgen secretion

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Abstract
While it is well established that aldosterone arises exclusively from the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal gland under the dominant control of the renin-angiotensin system and that cortisol arises from both the zona fasciculata and zona reticularis under the almost exclusive control of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), the mechanisms controlling adrenal androgen secretion, predominantly from the zona reticularis, have not been established and are the subject of intense debate. Undoubtedly ACTH plays an important role in the stimulation of adrenal androgen secretion. However, the many instances of dissociation between cortisol and androgen secretion suggest that while ACTH is necessary for androgen biosynthesis, alone it is probably not sufficient. The fetal adrenal secretes Δ5 androgens in abundance; the steroid pattern changing in the early neonatal phase of life to favour Δ4 glucocorticoids with very little androgen production (De Peretti & Forest, 1976). This pattern is maintained into the second half of

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