METABOLISM OF THE STEROID HORMONES—THE CONVERSION OF ISOANDROSTERONE TO ANDROSTERONE1

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Abstract
The fact that the adrenal cortex contributes to the metabolic pool of androgens in the body and the 17-ketosteroids in the urine is well known. Hirschmann (1941) was able to isolate androsterone and etiocholanol-3(α)-one-17 from the urine of ovariectomized women in concentrations almost equivalent to that isolated from the urine of normal women. In Addison’s disease the urinary titer of androgens and 17-ketosteroids is significantly reduced. In patients with adrenal cortical hyperplasia or tumors, the concentration of androgens and 17-ketosteroids is increased. Although the evidence indicates that some of the androgens found in normal urine were derived from the adrenal cortical steroids, little is known of the mechanism of the conversion of these steroids to major androgen metabolites, such as androsterone and etiocholanol-3(α)- one-17. Of the three C-19 compounds which have been isolated from adrenal tissue, one, Δ4-androstenedione-3, 17, has been shown to yield androsterone and etiocholanol-3(α)-one-17 after administration to men. (Dorfman, Wise, Shipley, 1947).

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