1. CHOLESTEROL AND
STEROIDS

3. Actions… 1 Direct (Intended) Actions Anti-inflammatory Anti-allergy
Anti-immunity
Permissive Actions
Lipolytic effects
Effect on BP
Effect on bronchial muscles

4. Actions …2
Glucocorticoids (e.g., prednisolone) used to suppress inflammation, allergy and immune responses.
Anti-inflammatory therapy is used in many illnesses (e.g., Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ulcerative Colitis, Bronchial Asthma, eye and skin inflammations). Useful in, say, tissue transplantation and lymphopoiesis (leukemias and lymphomas).

5. Actions .. 3
Hydrocortisone used for: orally for replacement therapy, i.v. for shock and asthma, topically for eczema (ointment) and enemas (ulcerative colitis).
Triamcinolone: used for severe asthma and for local joint inflammation (intra-articular inj.).

6. Actions .. 4
Betamethasone and dexamethasone: very potent, w/o salt-retaining properties; thus, very useful for high-dose therapies (e.g., cerebral edemas).
Beclometasone, diproprionate, budesonide: pass membranes poorly; more active when applied topically (severe eczema for local anti-inflammatory effects) than orally; used in asthma, (aerosol).

7. Beclometasone, diproprionate, budesonide: used in asthma, (aerosol).

8. Androgens - Male sex hormones synthesized in the testes
responsible for the development of male secondary sex characteristics

12. Negative Health Effects
Acne
Irritability and aggression (ROID RAGE)
Elevated cholesterol levels
Adolescent use may cause a premature stop in lengthening bones (Stunted growth)
Mood swings (extremes)

13. Negative Effects, cont.
Injecting users subject themselves to Hepatitis or HIV.
Withdrawal symptoms when one stops using steroids: mood swings, fatigue, restlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and depression.
Depression can lead to suicide.
If untreated, the withdrawal symptoms could last up to a year after stopping the use.

16. Bell Ringer Answer the following question.
Why would someone want to take steroids? Are athletes the only users? Why or why not.

17. Who Uses Steroids?
Athletes in sports that rely on size and strength: football, baseball, and wrestling.
Endurance athletes: track and swimming.
Weight training or body building athletes.

18. CHOLESTEROL AND
STEROIDS

19. Sterols (steroids) are class of lipids that are derivatives of a tetracyclic hydrocarbon

20. Steroids
Steroids are lipids containing a steroid nucleus (core structure)
The steroid nucleus is a fused ring system consisting of three cyclohexane rings and one cyclopentane ring
The rings are designated A, B, C and D
Attachment of different groups to the core steroid structure leads to a wide variety of steroid compounds, including cholesterol, bile salts and steroid hormones

21. CHOLESTEROL
“Cholesterol is the most highly decorated small molecule in biology. Thirteen Nobel Prizes have been awarded to scientists who devoted major parts of their careers to cholesterol. Ever since it was isolated from gallstones in 1784, cholesterol has exerted an almost hypnotic fascination for scientists from the most diverse areas of science and medicine…. Cholesterol is a Janus-faced molecule. The very property that makes it useful in cell membranes, namely its absolute insolubility in water, also makes it lethal.”

22. Cholesterol Cholesterol is the most abundant steroid in animals
- plants have very small amounts (but have related compounds)
- it’s a major component of cell membranes, and affects the fluidity of the membrane due to its bulky structure
- is a precursor for biosynthesis of many other steroids
Cholesterol is called a sterol because it contains an alcohol group
We can obtain cholesterol from our diet (animal products), but our liver can also synthesize all the cholesterol that we need
- the liver synthesizes more cholesterol when dietary intake is low
- excessive blood cholesterol is associated with atherosclerosis and formation of gallstones

23. History 1855 – Addison’s disease
1856 – Adrenal glands essential for life
1930 – Cortex > medulla
1932 – Cushing’s syndrome
1949 – Hench et al (Steroids in rheumatoid arthritis)
1952 – Aldosterone

24. CHOLESTEROL IS THE BIOSYNTHETIC SOURCE OF ALL STEROIDS

25. FATE OF CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is used by cells to decrease fluidity of cell membrane
Used in steroid hormone biosynthesis
Used in Vit A D E K biosynthesis
Cholesterol can also be exported from liver as bile acids, cholesteryl esters, or biliary cholesterol
Cholesteryl esters are transported to other other tissues to use cholesterol

27. Steroid Hormones Hormones act as chemical messengers
They are important in control of many biological functions
They are secreted from endocrine glands (and placenta)
They react with receptors on cell surfaces to trigger a cascade response
Usually control metabolism at the gene level
Steroid hormones are biosynthesized from cholesterol

31. Adrenal Corticosteroids
Adrenal corticosteroids are hormones produced in the adrenal glands (located just above the kidneys)
Cortisone (a glucocorticoid) raises the blood glucose level by causing tissues other than the brain to switch to metabolizing fats and proteins; it also suppresses the immune response and can be used as an anti-inflammatory anti-allergy medication
Aldosterone (a mineralcorticoid) regulates ion balance by promoting re-absorbtion of Na+, Cl- and HCO3- by the kidneys
Prednisone is a synthetic corticoid used to treat various inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis

32. CHOLESTEROL IS THE BIOSYNTHETIC SOURCE OF ALL STEROID HORMONES
Five major classes of hormones
Progestins (regulate events during pregnancy and are precursors to all other steroid hormones)
Androgens (male sexual characteristic development and maintenance)
Estrogens (female sexual characteristics development and maintenance)
Glucocorticoids (promote gluconeogenesis, and in certain doses suppress inflammation rxns)
Mineralocorticoids (regulate ion balance in kidney)

33. BILE ACIDS ARE CHOLESTEROL DERIVATIVES
Emulsify dietary lipids
Secreted from liver, stored in gall bladder, passed through bile duct into intestine
Bile acids represent a major metabolic fate of cholesterol, accounting for more than half of the 800 mg/day of cholesterol metabolized (steroid hormones represent about 50 mg of cholesterol per day)
Bile acids are recycled through small intestine

34. Bile Salts
Bile salts are synthesized from cholesterol in the liver
- they are stored in the gall bladder and released into the upper small intestine to help break down fats and oils (like soaps)
- too much accumulated cholesterol in the gall bladder can lead to gallstones; if a gallstone passes into the bile duct, severe pain results and the gallbladder often has to be removed

35. Chenodeoxycholic acid
Bile acids
Tauro ~
Gliko ~
Cholesterol
Tauro ~
Glyco ~
Chenodeoxycholic acid
Litocholic acid
Cholic acid
Primary bile acid
Deoxycholic acid
Secondary bile acids

36. OTHER ISOPRENOID COMPOUNDS:
Vitamin A, D, K, E
Terpenes – generic term for all compounds biosynthesized from isoprene precursors; hence all the molecules we have discussed today are terpenes.
isoprene, has the molecular formula C5H8

37. Thank you