title: Cortisol-Metabolizing Enzymes in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the activity of cortisol-metabolizing enzymes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), using a fully quantitative gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS) method.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the glucocorticoid degradation pathways that include 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) type 1, 5α-reductase (5α-R) and 5β-reductase (5β-R), 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, and 20α- and 20β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20α-HSD and 20β-HSD, respectively) in young nonobese women with PCOS, using a fully quantitative GCMS method.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in a tertiary referral hospital in Israel.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study group consisted of 13 young women, aged 20.1 ± 2.8 years (mean ± SD), with the body mass index (BMI) of 22.6 ± 3.7 kg/m(2), diagnosed with PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria. The control group consisted of 14 healthy young women matched for weight, height, and BMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urine samples were analyzed using GCMS. We measured urinary steroid metabolites that represent the products and substrates of the study enzymes and calculated the product/substrate ratios to represent enzyme activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The calculation of enzymatic activity, based on glucocorticoid degradation metabolites, was done by GCMS in PCOS vs. controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All glucocorticoid degradation metabolites were higher in the PCOS group than in controls. Of the adrenal enzymes, the activities of 21-hydroxylase and 17α-hydroxylase were reduced, whereas the activity of 17,20-lyase was enhanced in PCOS. Of the degradation enzymes, the activity of 11β-HSD type 1 was reduced in women with PCOS only when calculated from cortoles and cortolones ratios. The activities of 5α-R/5β-R were increased only when calculating the 11-hydroxy metabolites of androgens. The activity of 20α-HSD was elevated in the patients with PCOS and its relation with the substrate levels was lost.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We confirm PCOS association with low 21-hydroxylase activity. PCOS is associated with dysregulation in glucocorticoid degradation. The activity of 5α-R is enhanced only through the backdoor pathway. Marked increase in the activity of 20α-HSD suggests a hitherto unknown derangement in PCOS.
authors.affiliation: Section of Reproductive Endocrinology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.; Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Zeev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Blumenfeld
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Meyer Children's Hospital, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Gabi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaidar
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Meyer Children's Hospital, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Nehama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zuckerman-Levin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dumin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knopf
authors.affiliation: Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Ze'ev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hochberg
keywords: adrenal gland; glucocorticoid; polycystic ovary syndrome