Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Biochem. Int., 1988 Apr;16(4):629-37.
PMID: 3390195

Abstract

Capillary gas chromatographic 'steroid profiling' has been utilised to separate and quantify the metabolites (derivatized as methyloximes and/or trimethylsilyl ethers) formed from pregnenolone after incubation with rat testicular microsomes. A wide range of steroid metabolites was found, indicating that both the 5-ene and 4-ene pathways of testosterone biosynthesis were operating, as well as 16 alpha-hydroxylation, 20 beta-reduction and the formation of several C19 steroids (the 16-androstenes). At the concentration used, Metyrapone markedly inhibited 16 alpha- and 17-hydroxylation and side-chain cleavage of 17-hydroxylated C21 steroids. 16-Androstene production was also markedly inhibited and the formation of other metabolites was affected to lesser extents. Oxytocin abolished the formation of all C21 and C19 metabolites of pregnenolone.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.