Excretion of 16α-Hydroxysteroids by Premature Infants

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Abstract
The excretion of 3 sulfoconjugated Δ5-3β-OH, 16α-hydroxysteroids, 16α-hydroxypregnenolone, 16α-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone and Δ5-androstenetriol, has been measured in fifty-two 24-hr urine specimens from 23 premature infants ranging in age from 6 to 36 days. Twenty of the infants were studied longitudinally by the examination of 2 or three 24-hr urine specimens from each infant collected at 1- to 2-week intervals. The excretion of the 3 steroids rose consistently in 6 of the 9 infants from whom 3 urine specimens were collected and in 10 of the 11 from whom 2 urine specimens were collected. The combined daily excretion of the 3 steroids exceeded 8 mg in 8 urine collections from 7 of the infants. These findings are not fully consistent with an origin of these steroids in the fetal zone of the adrenal cortex. The findings are better explained by a persistence of fetal enzyme activities—underactivity of steroid sulfatase and possibly Δ5-3β-ol-dehydrogenase and high activity of hepatic and adrenal 16α-hydroxylase—into the neonatal period.