Immunolocalization of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in human adrenal cortex and in its disorders |
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Authors: | Hironobu Sasano J lan Mason Nobuaki Sasano Hiroshi Nagura |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Pathology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Sendai 980, Aoba-ku, Japan
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Abstract: | Immunohistochemical localization of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ5→4-isomerase (3β-HSD), which converts Δ5-3β-hydroxysteroids to Δ4-3-ketosteroids, was performed in the human adrenal gland and in its disorders by employing a specific antibody raised against
the enzyme purified from human placenta. Immunoreactivity of 3β-HSD was present in all three cortical zones of the adrenal
glands obtained at autopsy, while in surgically removed adrenal glands, immunoreactivity was dominant in the zona fasciculata
(ZF), with faint immunoreactivity in the zona glomerulosa (ZG) and the zona reticularis (ZR). Intracortical localization of
3β-HSD in the adrenal glands obtained at autopsy may represent an adrenal adaptation to antemortem stress, with shifting of
adrenal pregnenolone- a substrate of 3β-HSD - as well as steroid 17α-hydroxylase from adrenal androgen synthesis to glucocorticoid
synthesis. In adrenocortical hyperplasia, marked immunoreactivity was observed in the ZG and outer ZF in adrenal glands with
idiopathic hyperaldosteronism and in the ZF and ZR, especially in cortical micronodules, in the adrenal glands associated
with Cushing’s disease. In aldosteronoma and Cushing’s adenoma, immunoreactivity of the enzyme was much more intense in large
clear tumor cells than in small compact tumor cells. Immunolocalization of 3β-HSD can yield important information toward an
understanding of adrenal steroid metabolism in both physiological and pathological processes. |
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