Androstenedione estrone produced from

In the normal, nonpregnant woman, estradiol is produced at the rate of 100 to 300pg/day. The production of estrone ranges from 100 to 200pg/day. Diurnal variation of blood estrone concentrations occurs in postmenopausal women, presumably reflecting the variation in the androstenedione precursor that originates in the adrenal glands. However, no such diurnal rhythms have been demonstrated for estradiol. 

The answer is d. (Murray, pp 505-626. Scriver, pp 4029-4240. Sack, pp 121-138. Wilson, pp 287-320.) Both cortisol and aldosterone contain C-21-hydroxyl groups. Both are also derived from progesterone in the adrenal cortex. In contrast, the sex hormones are synthesized in the ovaries and testicular interstitial cells. In the synthesis of sex hormones, progesterone is converted to 17a-hydroxyprogesterone and then androstenedione, which may either become estrone or testosterone. Testosterone gives rise to estradiol in the ovaries. In the corpus luteum, progesterone is produced. 

Over the past decade, new information has been published regarding the use of a new generation of aromatase inhibitors. These data have changed the way we treat metastatic breast cancer, as well as early-stage breast cancer (as was noted previously). In postmenopausal and castrated women, the main source of estrogen is derived from the peripheral conversion of androstenedione, produced by the adrenal gland, into estrone and estradiol. This conversion requires... 

Estrogens. The biosynthetic relationship of the ovarian female sex hormones to androstenedione (their precursor), to cholesterol, and to each other is outlined in Figure 14-6. Estrone [3-hydroxy-l,3,5(10)-estratriene-17-one] was the first sex hormone to be isolated (Doisy et al., 1930 Butenand, 1930). Estradiol, which has been established as the true female sex hormone, is about 10 times more potent than estrone. It was not isolated for five years and took the extraction of 4 tons of sow ovaries to produce a little more than 10 mg of the hormone. Estrone was initially isolated from human pregnancy urine. 

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