roidogepic Enzymes in Adrenal Cortex Localization of Ste and Its Disorders

As is well known, adrenal cortex produces and secrete steroids, which originate from circulating or stored cholesterol. All corticosteroids are synthesized through a series of complicated enzymatic steps from cholesterol (Fig. 1). Corticosteroids are classified into three groups, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and adrenal androgens based on their biological actions. In human adrenal cortex associated with abnormal corticosteroidogenesis, the lesions are always associated with complicated morphological features, whether hyperplasia or neoplasms. Therefore, determining which types of cortical cells produce which classes of steroid hormones is essential to studying steroid metabolism in human and experimental animals. A majority of the studies of steroidogenesis dealing with adrenal have been performed by biochemical methods. However, biochemical studies alone are by no means sufficient to provide significant data on adrenal steroid metabolism. Therefore, it is important to know the localization o f each specific steroidogenic enzyme when studying adrenal steroid production and metabolism.