Congenital adrenal hyperplasiaCongenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis. It results from the deficiency of one of the five enzymes required for the synthesis of cortisol in the adrenal cortex. Most of these disorders involve excessive or deficient production of hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, or sex steroids, and can alter development of primary or secondary sex characteristics in some affected infants, children, or adults.
ProgesteroneProgesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the major progestogen in the body. Progesterone has a variety of important functions in the body. It is also a crucial metabolic intermediate in the production of other endogenous steroids, including the sex hormones and the corticosteroids, and plays an important role in brain function as a neurosteroid.
MineralocorticoidMineralocorticoids are a class of corticosteroids, which in turn are a class of steroid hormones. Mineralocorticoids are produced in the adrenal cortex and influence salt and water balances (electrolyte balance and fluid balance). The primary mineralocorticoid is aldosterone. The name mineralocorticoid derives from early observations that these hormones were involved in the retention of sodium, a mineral. The primary endogenous mineralocorticoid is aldosterone, although a number of other endogenous hormones (including progesterone and deoxycorticosterone) have mineralocorticoid function.
5α-Dihydroprogesterone5α-Dihydroprogesterone (5α-DHP, allopregnanedione, or 5α-pregnane-3,20-dione) is an endogenous progestogen and neurosteroid that is synthesized from progesterone. It is also an intermediate in the synthesis of allopregnanolone and isopregnanolone from progesterone. 5α-DHP is metabolized by the aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) AKR1C1, AKR1C2, and AKR1C4 with high catalytic efficiency. AKR1C1 preferentially forms 20α-hydroxy-5α-pregnane-3-one while AKR1C2 preferentially forms allopregnanolone.
Pregnane X receptorIn the field of molecular biology, the pregnane X receptor (PXR), also known as the steroid and xenobiotic sensing nuclear receptor (SXR) or nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group I, member 2 (NR1I2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NR1I2 (nuclear Receptor subfamily 1, group I, member 2) gene. PXR is a nuclear receptor whose primary function is to sense the presence of foreign toxic substances and in response up regulate the expression of proteins involved in the detoxification and clearance of these substances from the body.
NeurosteroidNeurosteroids, also known as neuroactive steroids, are endogenous or exogenous steroids that rapidly alter neuronal excitability through interaction with ligand-gated ion channels and other cell surface receptors. The term neurosteroid was coined by the French physiologist Étienne-Émile Baulieu and refers to steroids synthesized in the brain. The term, neuroactive steroid refers to steroids that can be synthesized in the brain, or are synthesized by an endocrine gland, that then reach the brain through the bloodstream and have effects on brain function.
PregnanePregnane, also known as 17β-ethylandrostane or as 10β,13β-dimethyl-17β-ethylgonane, is a C21 steroid and, indirectly, a parent of progesterone. It is a parent hydrocarbon for two series of steroids stemming from 5α-pregnane (originally allopregnane) and 5β-pregnane (17β-ethyletiocholane). It has a gonane core. 5β-Pregnane is the parent of pregnanediones, pregnanolones, and pregnanediols, and is found largely in urine as a metabolic product of 5β-pregnane compounds. Pregnanes are steroid derivatives with carbons present at positions 1 through 21.
