C19-Steroids in Prostate: Finasteride & EpiTestosterone

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#1

The Concentrations of the Endogenous C19-Steroids in Hyperplastic Prostatic Tissue and the Effect of Finasteride Treatment

thieme-connect.com/ejournals … 45052.jvm4

M. Hill1, R. Petrik2, R. Hampl1, L. Stárka1
1 Institute of Endocrinology, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Urological Clinic, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract
The concentrations of the antiandrogenic endogenous steroid epitestosterone (epiT) and of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and androstenedione in the prostate were determined in tissue samples obtained from 21 patients who underwent suprapubic prostatectomy for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Fifteen patients received no hormonal treatment before surgery and the other 6 patients were pretreated for 8 weeks before surgery with an oral dose of 5 mg/day finasteride. The steroids were extracted and separated by high pressure liquid chromatography and determined by specific radioimmunoassays.

The concentration of epiT (mean 58.4 ± 40.4 S.D., range 14.0-144.0 fmol/mg protein) exceeded that of testosterone and was nearly as high as that of DHT.

The prostatic tissue from the patients treated with finasteride for 8 weeks showed a significant decrease not only in DHT but also in androstenedione and epiT, whereas the concentration of testosterone increased significantly.

#2

Some info on EpiTestosterone…

Epitestosterone.

Stárka L.
Institute of Endocrinology, Národni; tr. 8, CZ 116 94 Prague 1, Czech Republic. lstarka@endo.cz

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre … stractPlus

Epitestosterone has been identified as a natural component of biological fluids of several mammals including man.

For a long time it was believed that it is a metabolite without any hormonal activity and without any marked relationship to the hormonal state in health and disease. Neither the biosynthetic pathway nor the site of its formation in man have been unequivocally confirmed to date. It apparently parallels the formation of testosterone (T)

, but on the other hand its concentration is not influenced by exogenous administration of testosterone. This fact creates the basis of the present doping control of testosterone abuse.

In 1989 an observation was presented in a dermatological study that epitestosterone exerts an effect counteracting the action of testosterone on flank organ of Syrian hamster.

Further studies showed that a complex action consisting of competitive binding of epitestosterone to androgen receptor, of inhibition of testosterone biosynthesis and its reduction to dihydrotestosterone and of antigonadotropic activity could be demonstrated in rat, mice and human tissues.

It can be presumed that epitestosterone as a natural hormone can contribute to the regulation of such androgen dependent events as, e.g. the control of prostate growth or body hair distribution.

PMID: 14630088 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]