Steroid metabolism in the gonads of a patient with testicular feminization. I. Metabolism of cholesterol, pregnenolone, progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone in vitro.

The metabolism of cholesterol-4-14C, pregnenolone-4-14C, progesterone-4-14C and dehydroepiandrosterone-4-14C in a right abdominal and a left inguinal testis of a patient with testicular feminization was studied by a double isotope method in vitro. One of the main metabolites found in all incubations was testosterone. In incubations with cholesterol the delta4-pathway seems to be preferred. The rate of conversion of cholesterol to testosterone in the right testis was 1,27% and in the left testis 4,90%. Pregnenolone was converted to testosterone in the right testis at a rate of 6,61% and in the left testis at a rate of 3,23%. The conversion for testosterone using progesterone as precursor was 13,19% and 3,88% respectively and 11,97% of dehydroepiandrosterone was converted to testosterone in the right testis and 12,32% in the left testis. These findings are compared with data from the literature and conclusions are drawn.