This pathway describes the inactivation and catabolism of male (androgen) and female (estrogen) hormones. Many steroid hormones are transformed by sulfatases, dehydrogenases and glucuronide transferases to enhance their solubility and to facilitate their elimination. Inactivation means to convert an active compound into an inactive compound. Peripheral inactivation, which is inactivation caused by outside enzymes such as liver enzymes for example, is needed to maintain a steady-state level of plasma. This means that if either of these hormones are to be “chemical signals”, their half-life in the bloodstream has to be limited so that a variation in secretion rate can be emulated in the plasma. A large part of inactivation/catabolism occurs in the liver, although a little bit of catabolic activity does happen in the kidneys. Inactive androgens and estrogens are mostly eliminated in the urine. For this to happen, androgen and estrogen need to be converted to compounds that are less hydrophobic so that they are more soluble at higher concentrations. In this pathway, the conversion to a hydrophilic compound is an oxidation of a 17b-hydroxyl group. These hormones are needed for sexual development in both males and females.

Androgen and Estrogen Metabolism References