Studies on testosterone metabolism in subjects with testicular feminization syndrome

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Abstract

The metabolism of radioactive testosterone simultaneously administered intravenously and either orally or percutaneously has been studied in seven patients with the syndrome of testicular feminization and compared with that of normal males and females. This investigation was carried out in order to determine the relative contribution to urinary 17-oxo and 17β-hydroxy androstane steroids of labeled testosterone, according to its mode of administration. In normal males the yields of urinary 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (androstanediol) originating from either an intravenous or a percutaneous dose of testosterone were respectively 3 and 6 times higher than those arising from an oral dose which perfuses the liver directly. These data indicate that in normal males, testosterone might be 5α-hydrogenated outside the liver. By contrast in patient with feminizing testes, because the contribution to androstanediol of radioactive testosterone is identical whatever its mode of administration, the extrahepatic 5α-reduction of this substrate seems very unlikely.

Authors

P. Mauvais-Jarvis, J. P. Bercovici, O. Crepy, F. Gauthier