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Progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 5α-dihydrotestosterone and androsterone concentrations in specific regions of the human brain

1983; Pergamon Press; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-4731(83)90086-9

1878-2353

Geoffrey L. Hammond, J. Hirvonen, R. Vihko,

Pharmacological Effects and Assays

The concentrations of progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, 5α-dihydrotestosterone and androsterone were determined in tissue samples from the human hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, pineal, amygdala and parietal cortex, taken at autopsy from male (n = 4) and female cadavers (n = 4) of various ages. The measurements were performed using radioimmunoassays for the individual steroids after the Chromatographic purification of solvent extracts of tissue samples on Lipidex-5000TM. Preliminary qualitative analyses of the Chromatographic profiles of various steroids by radioimmunoassay demonstrated the presence of these steroids in various regions of the brain, but an immunoreactive peak corresponding to 17-hydroxyprogesterone was not found. The concentrations (ng/g tissue wet wt.) of all steroids measured were either very low or below the limit of detection in brain tissues taken from male and female infants. In the adult brain, there was no difference in the distribution of steroids between the various regions studied. There was no sex difference in the brain tissue steroid concentrations, with the exception of testosterone which was clearly much higher in brain tissues from men as compared to women. Although testosterone was undetectable in most samples taken from adult women, 5α-dihydrotestosterone could be measured in almost all samples, which suggests that this is the most important androgen in the human brain. When brain tissue steroid levels are compared with serum concentrations, it can be postulated that a state of equilibrium exists between the fraction of serum steroids which are not bound to high-affinity binding proteins and the amount of steroids in brain tissues.