title: Formation and concentration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate in the abdominal skin of healthy individuals and patients with endocrine disease.
abstract: In vitro incubation studies demonstrated that abdominal skin slices from healthy females and males converted 1.05-2.73% (mean 1.75%) and 0.64-2.06% (mean 1.32%), respectively of [4-14C]dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) to [4-14C]dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHA-S) and that the delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid sulphokinase(delta 5-3 beta-HSS) activities were almost identical in female and male abdominal skin. DHA-S formation in the skin of females with hirsutism of adrenocortical, ovarial or idiopathic origin was shown not to differ from that in healthy females; the hyperandrogenism in the skin of hirsute females is thus not a consequence of a delta 5-3 beta-HSS deficiency. In vitro synthesis of DHA-S in the abdominal skin of patients with complete testicular feminization or 46XY pure gonad dysgenesis and anorchia was similar to that in healthy subjects. Addition of synthetic human alpha 1-39-ACTH and natural (porcine) ACTH to in vitro incubates of abdominal skin slices from healthy females or females with various types of hirsutism increased the formation of DHA-S, revealing thereby a further extra-adrenal effect of ACTH. In the abdominal skin of healthy females and males the DHA concentration did not differ, but the concentration of DHA-S was much higher in males. The DHA-S concentration in the abdominal skin of idiopathic hirsutism patients was pathologically high in spite of the blood DHA-S level being normal. The considerable accumulation of DHA-S in the abdominal skin of healthy males and hirsute females cannot be explained by the normal delta 5-3 beta-HSS activity; thus, it is assumed that either the DHA-S elimination mechanism may be changed in the abdominal skin slices, or the DHA-S binding proteins might be multiplied.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000293:Adolescent; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D004700:Endocrine System Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006628:Hirsutism / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone