Age-Related Changes in Serum 17-Hydroxypregnenolone and 17-Hydroxypregnenolone Sulfate Concentrations in Human Infancy and Childhood.

Abstract

In order to clarify

Age Relationships and Sex Differences in Serum Levels of Pregnenolone and 17-Hydroxypregnenolone in Normal Subjects

“…Our results agree with the level of 17-hydroxypregnenolone found in children and adolescents by Shimozawa et al (15) and Lashansky et al (16) and with other studies on serum levels of both steroids (34)(35)(36)(37). The estimates of the upper limits of 17-hydroxypregnenolone and pregnenolone serum levels in individual age groups (Tables 4 and 5) could be useful in diagnosis, especially in middle age where the age dependencies of the studied steroids have not yet been studied in detail.…”

“…Brought to you by | Michigan State University Authenticated Download Date | 6/29/15 4:49 AM (15,16,(34)(35)(36)(37), but to our knowledge their levels in a representative group of subjects during the whole life span have not been followed to date. Our results agree with the level of 17-hydroxypregnenolone found in children and adolescents by Shimozawa et al (15) and Lashansky et al (16) and with other studies on serum levels of both steroids (34)(35)(36)(37).…”

“…The age-related changes in 17-hydroxypregnenolone have been well monitored in infancy, childhood and puberty (14)(15)(16) but to our knowledge a complex and detailed study of age-and sex-related changes including childhood, puberty, adulthood and senescence has not been carried out. In this paper, we report the serum levels of 17-hydroxypregnenolone and pregnenolone from childhood to senescence in representative groups of both sexes.…”

Analysis of Blood Spot 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone Concentration in Neonates

“…The blood spot 17-OHP concentrations were measured by an El A method [5] based on the original methods [4,6,7], The speci ficity of the antiserum (anti-17-OHP-3-carboxymethyloxime-BSA serum) used was nearly satisfactory with the exception of percepti ble, but small, cross-reactivities with 17a-hydroxypregnenolone (3p,17a-dihydroxy-pregn-5-en-20-one) (1.2%) and progesterone (pregn-4-ene-3, 20-dione) (0.3%) with the 50% displacement method [7], The intra-and interassay coefficient of variations were 10.7and 10.1% in the moderate and high 17-OHP range, respective ly. A significant correlation (p < 0.001) was observed between the blood spot 17-OHP and serum 17-OHP concentrations determined by a specific radioimmunoassay method [8,9], although the former were significantly, but slightly higher than the latter, in the neonatal period, especially in preterm infants.…”

“…Even in full-term neonates, because of the fetoplacen tal supply of various steroids including 17-OHP itself, the serum 17-OHP concentration is high in the umbilical cord and in the early neonatal period, especially prior to the second day of life [9][10][11][12], It is also known that the serum 17-OHP concentration is much higher in preterm infants, as judged from the results according to the resid ual function of the fetal adrenal cortex [2,3,13,14], and in infants suffering from severe nonadrenal disorders which cause some stress leading to stimulation of the adrenal cortex by increased ACTH secretion [3,15], Thus, there are several factors causing high blood spot 17-OHP concentrations in the neonatal screening for CAH.…”