Hirsutism, Polycystic Ovarian Disease, and Ovarian 17-Ketosteroid Reductase Deficiency

To the Editor: Pang et al. (May 21 issue) 1 described a young woman with hirsutism and polycystic ovarian disease and proposed that her increased secretion of androstenedione was due to a genetic deficiency of ovarian 17-ketosteroid reductase. I disagree with the authors' proposal that the woma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 318; no. 3; pp. 190 - 191
Main Authors Pittaway, Donald E, Pang, Songya
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 21.01.1988
Subjects
17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases - deficiency
Androstenedione - metabolism
Female
Hirsutism - metabolism
Humans
Ovary - enzymology
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - metabolism
Testosterone - metabolism
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ISSN0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI10.1056/NEJM198801213180316

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Summary:To the Editor: Pang et al. (May 21 issue) 1 described a young woman with hirsutism and polycystic ovarian disease and proposed that her increased secretion of androstenedione was due to a genetic deficiency of ovarian 17-ketosteroid reductase. I disagree with the authors' proposal that the woman had an enzyme deficiency, at least in the classic sense. Certainly, high levels of androstenedione and an increase in the ratio of androstenedione to testosterone suggest an enzyme block. However, in studies of women with polycystic ovarian disease, several of the subjects had high ovarian production of androstenedione and relatively low production of testosterone, . . .
Bibliography:content type line 23
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJM198801213180316