Priscilla Angeles
Physiology
A woman with excessive body hair and
a deep voice shows the outward symptoms
of which hormonal dysfunction? Which
gland releases this hormone? Are there any
other hormones involved?
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first discovered in 1936
the original anabolic steroid
precursor for all estrogens—including female sex hormones
also referred to as androgenic hormone or testoid
the generic term for any natural or synthetic compound—but
usually only a steroid hormone
• stimulates or controls development and maintenance of male
characteristics by binding to androgen receptors
• including the activity of accessory male sex organs and development of
male secondary sex characteristics
• well known form of androgen is testosterone
Dehdroepiandrosterone
Androstenedione
• (DHEA)
• steroid hormone produced in
adrenal cortex derived from
cholesterol
• primary precursor of natural
estrogens
• also called
dehydroisoandrosterone or
dehydroandrosterone
• (Andro)
• androgenic steroid produced
by the testes, adrenal cortex,
and ovaries
• converted metabolically to
testosterone and other
androgens
• parent structure of estrone
• banned from being used as
an athletic or body building
supplement
• chemical by-product created
during breakdown of
androgens
• derived from progesterone
• exerts minor masculinizing
effects, with one-seventh of the
intensity of testosterone
• found in both men and women
in approximately equal
amounts in the plasma and
urine
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Metabolite of testosterone
Much more potent androgen than testosterone
Binds more strongly to androgen receptors
Produced in the adrenal cortex
Women with increased levels of DHT may develop male
secondary sex characteristics, such as—
• Deepened voice, facial hair, and excesses hair
• Primary contributing factor in male pattern baldness
• Female hair loss is more complex, but DHT is a possible
cause as well