Aromatization of Androstenedione by Cultured Human Fibroblasts

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Abstract
The conversion of [l,2,6,7-3H]androstenedione to [3H]estrone was measured in fibroblast monolayers grown from biopsies of genital and nongenital skins obtained from 15 control subjects, 9 males with developmental defects of the urogenital tract, and8 patientswith hereditary male pseudohermaphroditism. Under the standardized conditions utilized in this study, the rate of estrone formation in the fibroblasts from normal controls varied from < 0.2 to5.5 pmol/100 mg protein/h, and these rates were enhanced by incubation of intact monolayers with choleragen, theophylline, or dexamethasone. Rates of estrone formation were higher insome foreskin strains grown from subjects with developmental defects of the urogenital tract andinstrains from scrotum and foreskin of patients with familial incomplete male pseudohermaphroditism, types 1 and 2 than in normal strains or strains from patients with testicular feminization. Themeaning of these apparent high rates of estrone formation is unclear.