Acta Medica 29. (1972)
1972 / 1-2. szám - The 5th Hungarian Endocrine Congress was held in Szeged, Szeptember 1-4, 1971. - Julesz, M.†: Experimental and Clinical Aspects of the Biosynthesis of Androgenic Steroids
Acta Medico Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricac, Tomas 29 (1—2), pp. 1 —10 (1972) EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL ASPECTS OF THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF ANDROGENIC STEROIDS By f M. JULESZ FIRST DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL, SZEGED, HUNGARY Two important milestones in the history of endocrinology relate to the function of the testicles. Berthold discovered the endocrine nature of testicular function more than one hundred years ago and the first use of androgens for therapeutic purposes is linked with the name of Brown-Sequard. Sudden upswings in scientific research are always connected with the development of new methods. The new progress in biochemistry would have been inconceivable without the chromatographic procedures and isotope techniques. It is by these methods that we have gained insight into the successive phases of steroid metabolism and that isolation, identification of the individual products and their measurement in terms of nanograms have become possible. The three-gonad theory formulated by the present author a few years ago expresses the fact that each of the three endocrine glands has all enzyme systems involved in steroid genesis at its command, in other words, that there is no sharp functional demarcation between these organs. First of all it has to be made clear what we understand biologically and chemically by the term androgens. From the biological point of view, androgens are substances stimulating the growth of the male reproductive organs (Bar Ada Medico Academiae Scientiarum Hunearicae 29, 1972