title: Comparative studies of the aromatization of testosterone and epitestosterone by human placental aromatase.
abstract: The aromatization of epitestosterone (17 alpha-hydroxy-4-androsten-3-one) and testosterone by lyophilized human placental microsomes was studied. Upon incubation of epitestosterone, 12% was converted to 17 alpha-estradiol, 15% to 19-keto-epitestosterone (17 alpha-hydroxy-4-oxo-4-androsten-19-al), 10% to 19-hydroxyepitestosterone (17 alpha, 19-dihydroxy-4-androsten-3-one), and about 10% to several unidentified products. A similar incubation with testosterone resulted in 60% conversion to 17 beta-estradiol; 30% was unchanged. At increasing substrate concentrations (0.1-50 microM), the aromatization rate of epitestosterone increased gradually and did not reach a plateau, whereas aromatization rate of testosterone plateaued at about 3 microM. The presence of either testosterone or 17 beta-estradiol in concentrations 0.1-10 times the concentration of epitestosterone inhibited the aromatization of epitestosterone by about 70%, while the aromatization of testosterone was not inhibited by either epitestosterone or 17 alpha-estradiol. Lyophilization of fresh microsomes or storage of the lyophilized microsomes at -20 C greatly reduced the aromatizing activity upon epitestosterone but not upon testosterone. These results suggest that the aromatizing system for epitestosterone is different from that for testosterone.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D001141:Aromatase / Q000378:metabolism*; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004845:Epitestosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008861:Microsomes / Q000201:enzymology; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010920:Placenta / Q000201:enzymology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D004845:Epitestosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D004054:Diethylstilbestrol; D010088:Oxidoreductases; D001141:Aromatase