Sex Hormones By: Tyler Reitenga

What is a Sex Hormone? Sex Hormones are fat soluble compounds (steroids) that control sexual maturity and reproduction Produced mainly by endocrine glands Endocrine glands are testes in males and ovaries in women Females produce mainly estrogens and progesterone, males produce mainly androgens Males produce mainly androgens Sex Hormones are synthesized by cholesterol and from other compounds secreted by different levels of the body over the span of a persons life

Production of Sex Hormones Made by gonads (Ovaries in women, Testes in men) Made By adrenal glands Made by confrontation by other sex hormones in other tissues Production increases at puberty and decreases at old age

Types of Sex Hormones Androgen – controls development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates Estrogen – primary femal sex hormones Progestogen – function in maintaining pregnancy

Androgens Controls development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrae's Were first discovered in 1936 Forerunner of all estrogens Testosterone is an androgen

Types of Androgens Dehydroepiandrosterone: made in the adrenal cortex from cholesterol Androstenedione: Made by adrenal cortex, ovaries, and testes and is converted metabolically to testosterone Androstenediol: main controller of gonadotropin secretion Androsterone: created when androgens break down and helps to enforce masculinity Dihydrotestosterone: metabolite of testosterone, is made in the adrenal cortex

Estrogens Important in the estrous cycle Primary female sex hormones Name is comes from Greek word meaning “gadfly” Synthesized in all vertebrates Diffuse across the cell membrane and bind to estrogen receptors

Types of Estrogen Estroidal: predominant estrogen during reproductive years Estriol: Produced during pregnancy Estrone: Least abundant pf the other types of estrogen and is important is health and disease

Progestogen Each is characterized by its own pregnane skeleton Function in maintenance of pregnancy and other menstrual cycles It is produced by the corpus luteum Production is controlled by placenta All tissues that prodce steroids can produce progestrogens

Types of Progestogen Progesterone: Involved in embryogenesis and the female menstrual cycle

History of the Sex Hormone Sex hormones were studied excessively in the 1920s The first breakthrough came in 1929 with female hormones In 1934, Ruzicka synthesized androsterone from cholesterol. This was the first synthesis of a sex hormone and the first proof of the relationship between cholesterol and sex hormones. Butenandt's group found show that sex hormones were related to both bile acids and cholesterol, in 1939, the group converted cholesterol into progesterone. Ruzicka and Butenandt shared the 1939 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work in demonstrating the structure of steroids which included the sex hormones

Sex Hormone Disorders Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS): Hormonal imbalance in women linked to excess production of male sex hormones Hirsutism: Condition in women in which too much hair grows on the face or body. Late Onset Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: Genetic disorder in women where the adrenal glands don't produce important sex hormones. Testosterone Deficiency: Condition in men where there is Insufficient testosterone production.