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
M. J UL ESZ 2 din and Mahoudeau, 1970). As regards their chemical structure, the androgens are C19-steroids. The bisexual function of LH is reflected by the close relationship between the structures of the steroid hormones of the yellow body and those of the interstitial cells of the testicles. The structural formulas of the gonadal hormones, i. e., the two steroids of the female gonads, 17/?-oestradioland progesterone, and the testicular steroid testosterone, are presented in Fig. 2. It can be seen that progesterone is more closely related to testosterone than to the other female hormone. Both progesterone and testosterone are subject to LH-control, therefore it is not surprising that progesterone has a virilizing effect. Progesterone administered during pregnancy produces virilization of a female foetus. It is no longer felt by the present author that the endocrine hierarchy is limited to the three central systems where his earlier theory has confined it. In his present view, it extends far beyond these systems, upward to the cortex of the psychoassociative sphere and downward to the totality of target organs, tissues and cells, in brief to the periphery (Fig. 3). A closer study of Fig- 2 Acta Medica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 29, 1972