ORIGIN OF THE STEROIDAL HORMONES

Significant among recent developments in chemistry has been the demonstration of the close similarities existing among the chemical structures of many physiologically important compounds. This resemblance extends in many instances into the realm of physiologic function. Particularly striking in this respect are the sex hormones and the hormonal substances of the adrenal cortex. All these compounds contain the steroid nucleus. Moreover, the similarity is further emphasized by the clinical syndrome of adrenal virulism, by the ability of certain of the sex hormones, e. g. progesterone, to restore the adrenalectomized animal, and by the recent actual isolation of progesterone as a constituent of adrenal cortical tissue. The problem of the origin of the steroidal hormones in the organism is therefore important. The processes by which the mammalian organism synthesizes these relatively complex molecules would, if understood, contribute greatly to understanding synthetic reactions in the body.

In the light of their chemical