7-Hydroxylated derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone in the human ventricular cerebrospinal fluid.
OBJECTIVE
Dehydroepiandrosterone is a long established neuroactive steroid. Some authors documented that 7-oxygenated derivatives of this steroid may be responsive at least by part for its physiological activity.


METHODS
In the ventricular cerebrospinal fluid obtained from 15 patients with hydrocephalus (8 postmenopausal women and 7 men) potentially neuroactive steroid 7-oxygenated derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone were quantified using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.


RESULTS
Besides free dehydroepiandrosterone 7-oxygenated steroids such as 7alpha- and 7beta-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone, 5-androstene-3beta,7alpha,17beta-triol and 5-androstene-3beta,7beta,17beta-triol in picomolar concentration in serum and cerebrospinal fluid were found.


CONCLUSIONS
Dehydroepiandrosterone and its 7-oxygenated derivatives are present in ventricular cerebrospinal fluid in concentration 2 -100 times lower than in serum.
Institute of Endocrinology, Prague, Czech Republic. lstarka@endo.cz
Luboslav
L
Starka
Martin
M
Hill
Radmila
R
Kancheva
Zdenek
Z
Novak
Jan
J
Chrastina
Miroslav
M
Pohanka
Robert
R
Morfin
D000328:Adult; D000737:Androstenols / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry
D000737:Androstenols; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone