Nature 228, 866 - 868 (28 November 1970); doi:10.1038/228866a0

Identification of 5-Androstane-3, 17-diol as a Principal Metabolite of Pregnenolone in Rat Ovary at Onset of Puberty

BENJAMIN ECKSTEIN^*, RAPHAEL MECHOULAM^† & SUMNER H. BURSTEIN^‡

^*Department of Zoology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
^†Laboratory of Natural Products, Hebrew University School of Pharmacy. Jerusalem.
^‡Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 01545.

THE mechanism which initiates puberty in the female mammal is not yet understood. Donovan and van der Werff ten Bosch¹ have suggested that gonadal steroids inhibit gonadotrophin secretion in both young and adult animals and that this inhibition is mediated by the brain. Because the amount of steroid required to inhibit gonadotrophin secretion was lower in young than in adult animals, it was assumed that the neural receptors of immature individuals are more sensitive to the negative feedback action of gonadal steroids. A fundamental step towards sexual maturity would therefore be a reduction in the sensitivity of the hypothalamus to gonadal hormones. This hypothesis implies that the gonads are capable of adult activity before puberty, an assumption which has yet to be proved.

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