Steroid metabolism in the skin of mature male African cattish, Clarias gariepinus, reared in the laboratory, was studied in vitro by tissue incubations with [3H] was transformed mainly to 5-androstene-3P,17@-diol. The products of 17a-hydroxyprogesterone incubations were Sp-pregnane-3a,17a-diol-20-one, SP-pregnane-3a,l7u, 20p-triol, and SP-pregnan-17a-ol-3,20-dione. The major steroids of androstenedione incubations were etiocholanolone, testosterone, and androsterone. Testosterone was converted mainly to etiocholanolone and androstenedione, and only small quantities of 11 P-hydroxytestosterone, 1 l-ketotestosterone, and 1 I-ketoandrostenedione were the metabolites found in 1 l@hydroxyandrostene-dione incubation. These results demonstrated the presence of the enzymes 5a-and 5@re-ductases and 3a-, lll3-, 17p-, and 20P-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in the skin. From enzymehistochemical results it appeared that the steroid conversions take place in the epithelial cells. Moreover, the presence of UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of glucuronic acid, in these cells indicates the possibility of steroid glucuronide formation. Indeed significant amounts of water-soluble steroid conjugates, particularly SP-dihydrotestosteroneand testosterone-glucuronide, were found in the incubations with androstenedione and testosterone, indicating the presence of the UDP-glucuronosyl transferase in the cattish skin. In the light of these results, a role of the skin of African catfish in the production of semiochemicals having pheromonal properties is discussed. 0 1987 Academic Press, Inc.
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