BIOGENESIS OF THE ESTROGENS: THE CONVERSION OF TESTOSTERONE-4-C14TO ESTRONE IN THE PREGNANT MARE1

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Abstract
It has already been demonstrated in the pregnant mare that estrone and the ring B unsaturated estrogens (equilin and equilenin) arise from acetate (Heard et al., 1954) but not from cholesterol (Heard and O’Donnell, 1954). In the present study, androgen as a source of estrogen has been explored. Increased excretion of estrogenic substances has been reported following the administration of male sex hormones to men (normal, eunuchoid, acromegalic and with prostatic hypertrophy), to normal and castrated male rats and to monkeys (Steinach, Kun and Peczenik, 1936; Steinach and Kun, 1937; Dorfman and Hamilton, 1939; Callow, Callow and Emmens, 1939; Hoskins, Coffman, Koch and Kenyon, 1939; and Nathanson, Engel, Kennedy and Kelley, 1951). On the other hand, Kochakian (1938) found that the subcutaneous injection of androgens to male dogs (normal and castrate) did not result in the excretion of estrogens; contrariwise, Paschkis et al. (1943) observed an increase in the same species.