Metabolism of dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione in a newborn anencephalic monster at term.

Abstract

ABSTRACT A newborn anencephalic monster was injected with carbon-14 labelled dehydroepiandrosterone and tritium labelled androstenedione and metabolites recovered from various tissues and blood specimens were analysed. Dehydroepiandrosterone was readily converted to dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate in all tissues studied. Furthermore, unconjugated as well as conjugated 5-androstene-3β,17β-diol and conjugated 16α-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone were isolated from the liver. Very little, if any, of the injected dehydroepiandrosterone was converted to Δ4-3-ketosteroids, ring A reduction products or oestrogens. On the other hand, androstenedione was rapidly metabolized to testosterone, a variety of unconjugated and conjugated reduction products and conjugated oestrogens. From the different tissues, the following unconjugated compounds were isolated in a radiochemically homogenous form: testosterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus), 5β-androstanedione (liver), 5β-androsterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus), epi-5β-androsterone (liver), 5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol and 5α-androstanedione (blood, combined extract of all organs), 5α-androsterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (combined foetal organs except the liver) and epi-5α-androsterone (blood and combined foetal organs except the liver). From the solvolysed conjugated fraction, the following steroids were isolated: 5β-androstane-3α,17β-diol (liver), 5β-androsterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus), epi-5β-androsterone (liver), 5α-androsterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus), testosterone (liver, blood, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, thymus). The 5β-forms were predominant in the liver, whereas the 5α-forms dominated the pattern in all other tissues studied, including the blood. The data indicate that the androgen metabolism of the anencephalic monster studied, did not differ qualitatively from that of midterm foetuses.