Conversion of progesterone to corticosteroids by the midterm fetal adrenal and kidney.
Midterm fetal adrenal and kidney tissue homogenates were incubated with 3H-progesterone (1 microM) and its conversion to te 3H-corticosteroids metabolites studied. Cortisol (36.3%) and corticosterone (4.7%) were isolated from the adrenal, and 11-deoxycortisol (32.5%) and deoxycorticosterone (21.1%) from the kidney. The results of these incubations confirmed the presence of 17- and 21-hydroxylase activities in both fetal tissues, and that of 11 beta-hydroxylase activity only in fetal adrenal tissue. We conclude that during pregnancy when progesterone levels are high, biosynthesis by the fetal kidney of 11-deoxycortisol, the most abundant corticosteroid formed by this tissue in this investigation, might provide to the fetal adrenal an important precursor for cortisol biosynthesis within the fetal compartment.
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D011374:Progesterone