Formation and metabolism of testosterone in rat skin.

Abstract

Various C19-steroids are formed from Cn precursors in preparations of skin from male and female rats. Equal weights of vulvar and dorsal skin from female animals formed more intermediaries with the Δ4-3-ketonic configuration, and produced higher yields of C19- steroids from incubations with pregnenolone, progesterone and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone than the corresponding weight of scrotal and dorsal skin from male animals. In addition, both vulvarand scrotal skin produced significantly higher yields of 5α-pregnanedione from progesterone than skin from the dorsal regions. Both areas of skin from female rats produced a similar spectrum of metabolites from dehydroepiandroster one with a higher yield of androstenedione than was obtained from the corresponding skin from male animals. Furthermore, the vulvar skin produced significantly higher yields of androsterone and testosterone from androstenedione, and the scrotal skin more testosterone than the same weights of dorsal skin. There was no significant difference in the metabolism of androstenedione by the corresponding areas of skin from either male or female animals. However, when testosterone was substrate, the skin from female animals produced large amounts of androstenedione and in addition the vulvar produced a significantly higher yield of 5α-androstanedione and 5α-dihydrotestosterone than the dorsal. With both areas of skin from male animals there was a low conversion to androstenedione, and a significantly higher yield of 5α-dihydrotestosterone was obtained from the scrotal skin as compared to the dorsal. The transformation of testosterone to androstenedione was significantly lower in scrotal than vulvar skin, whereas the conversion of testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone was significantly higher in the scrotum. (Endocrinology87: 764, 1970)