BIOSYNTHESIS OF ANDROGENS FROM PROGESTERONE BY HUMAN TESTICULAR TISSUEIN VITRO*

Abstract
4-C14 progesterone was incubated in human serum containing added gonadotropins with slices of a virilizing human testicular tumor (interstitial-cell tumor) for 3 hours. By means of carrier dilution technique, the following radioactive products were demonstrated: 17[alpha]-hydroxyprogesterone, 4-androstene-3,17-dione and testosterone. The same transformations were achieved with normal rat testicular tissue. These results point to the prominence of 17[alpha]-hy-droxyprogesterone and progesterone as important precursors of the androgenic hormones in testicular tissue.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: