In vitro incubation studies demonstrated that abdominal skin slices from healthy females and males converted 1.05-2.73% (mean 1.75%) and 0.64-2.06% (mean 1.32%), respectively of [4-14C]
dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) to [4-14C]
dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (
DHA-S) and that the delta 5-3 beta-hydroxysteroid sulphokinase(delta 5-3 beta-HSS) activities were almost identical in female and male abdominal skin.
DHA-S formation in the skin of females with
hirsutism of adrenocortical, ovarial or idiopathic origin was shown not to differ from that in healthy females; the
hyperandrogenism in the skin of hirsute females is thus not a consequence of a delta 5-3 beta-HSS deficiency. In vitro synthesis of
DHA-S in the abdominal skin of patients with complete
testicular feminization or 46XY pure gonad dysgenesis and
anorchia was similar to that in healthy subjects. Addition of synthetic human alpha 1-39-ACTH and natural (porcine)
ACTH to in vitro incubates of abdominal skin slices from healthy females or females with various types of
hirsutism increased the formation of
DHA-S, revealing thereby a further extra-adrenal effect of
ACTH. In the abdominal skin of healthy females and males the DHA concentration did not differ, but the concentration of
DHA-S was much higher in males. The
DHA-S concentration in the abdominal skin of idiopathic
hirsutism patients was pathologically high in spite of the blood
DHA-S level being normal. The considerable accumulation of
DHA-S in the abdominal skin of healthy males and hirsute females cannot be explained by the normal delta 5-3 beta-HSS activity; thus, it is assumed that either the
DHA-S elimination mechanism may be changed in the abdominal skin slices, or the
DHA-S binding proteins might be multiplied.