Pregnenolone hydroxylation

In the early 1930 s, when the prime research aim was the commercial synthesis of the sex hormones (whose structures had just been elucidated), the principal raw material available was cholesterol extracted from the spinal cord or brain of cattle or from sheep wool grease. This sterol (as its 3-acetate 5,6-dibromide) was subjected to a rather drastic chromic acid oxidation, which produced a variety of acidic, ketonic and hydroxylated products derived mainly by attack on the alkyl side-chain. The principal ketonic material, 3j -hydroxyandrost-5-en-17-one, was obtained in yields of only about 7% another useful ketone, 3 -hydroxypregn-5-en-20-one (pregnenolone) was obtained in much lower yield. The chief acidic product was 3j -hydroxy-androst-5-ene-17j -carboxylic acid. All three of these materials were then further converted by various chemical transformations into steroid hormones and synthetic analogs ... 

Pregnenolone is transported from the mitochondria to the ER, where a hydroxyl oxidation and migration of the double bond yield progesterone. Pregnenolone synthesis in the adrenal cortex is activated by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), a peptide of 39 amino acid residues secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. 

Cytochrome PTSOiy, carries out comparable reactions for removal of the side chain of pregnenolone, and two reactions have been described both of which involved loss of acetate—17a-hydroxylation and formation of the 17-keto compound, and direct formation of the A -ene (Figure 3.19c) (Akhtar et al. 1994). 

Since the predatory water beetles cannot biosynthesise the steroid skeleton de novo, steroidal precursors must be obtained from exogenous sources. Bacillus-strains, isolated from the foregut of the water beetle Agabus affinis, were tested for their ability to transform steroids [101]. After incubation with androst-4-en-3,17-dione two Bacillus strains produced 13 different transformation products. Hydroxylation took place at C6, C7, Cll and C14 resulting in the formation of 6fi-, 7a-, 1 la-, and 14a-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-diones. After incubation with pregnenolone the two Bacillus strains produced a variety of steroids among which 7a-hydroxypregnenolone was the major product [102]. 

Rat brain microsomes 7-a-hydroxylate DHEA and pregnenolone (Akwa et al., 1992). Mouse brain metabolizes [7a- H] pregnenolone and makes 7a-OH-DHEA (Rose et al., 1997). 

Akwa Y, Morfin RE, Robel P, Baulieu EE. 1992. Neurosteroid metabolism. 7 alpha-Hydroxylation of dehydroepiandros-terone and pregnenolone by rat brain microsomes. Biochem J 288(Pt 3) 959-964. 

This enzymic conversion involves two enzymes, a dehydrogenase and an isomerase. The dehydrogenase component oxidizes the hydroxyl group on pregnenolone to a ketone, and requires the oxidizing agent cofactor NAD+ (see Box 11.2). The isomerase then carries out two tautomerism reactions, enolization to a dienol followed by production of the more stable conjugated ketone. 

In men, approximately 8 mg of testosterone is produced daily. About 95% is produced by the Leydig cells and only 5% by the adrenals. The testis also secretes small amounts of another potent androgen, dihydrotestosterone, as well as androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone, which are weak androgens. Pregnenolone and progesterone and their 17-hydroxylated derivatives are also released in small amounts. Plasma levels of testosterone in males are about 0.6 mcg/dL after puberty and appear to decline after age 50. Testosterone is also present in the plasma of women in concentrations of approximately 0.03 mcg/dL and is derived in approximately equal parts from the ovaries and adrenals and by the peripheral conversion of other hormones. 

Several compounds have been developed that inhibit the 17-hydroxylation of progesterone or pregnenolone, thereby preventing the action of the side chain-splitting enzyme and the further transformation of these steroid precursors to active androgens. A few of these compounds have been tested clinically but have been too toxic for prolonged use. As noted in Chapter 39, abiraterone, a newer 17-hydroxylase inhibitor, may prove to be clinically successful. 

The synthesis of adrenal steroids is illustrated in Fig. 5.3.1. Cortisol, corticosterone, and aldosterone are formed by sequential hydroxylations and oxidoreductions from pregnenolone and progesterone. 17a-Hydroxypregnenolone (17HP) is a branchpoint constituent because it can be converted to cortisol or adrenal androgens. All of the components of this pathway can be quantified by MS/MS. The steroids around the periphery are urinary metabolites and these are measured by GC-MS following hydrolysis of conjugates and derivatization. 

The biosynthetic pathway to estradiol and estrone (Figure 5.133) proceeds from cholesterol via pregnenolone and bears a resemblance to the hydrocortisone pathway (Figure 5.114) in the early 17-hydroxylation step. Indeed, the same cytochrome P-450-dependent enzyme catalyses 17-hydroxylation of both pregnenolone and... 

Fig. 4. An example of a sequential hydroxylation sequence for pregnenolone biosynthesis. f22)indicates hydroxylation position.

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