Minireview: 16alpha-hydroxylated metabolites of dehydroepiandrosterone and their biological significance.

Institute of Endocrinology, 116 94 Praha 1, Czech RepublicE-mail: rhampl@endo.cz16α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone is the precursor of fetal 16α-hydroxylated estrogens,the main phenolic steroids in pregnancy. For years their serum levels have been used as bio-chemical markers of well being of the fetus. In adults, however, increased levels of 16-hydroxy-lated estrogens were put in relation to the risk of cancer and, more recently, to some systemicautoimmune diseases. With respect to immunomodulatory effect of dehydroepiandrosterone andits metabolites, of which 7-hydroxysteroids formed by a€concurrent reaction to 16-hydroxyla-tion, are believed to be even the more immunoprotective species, it may be of interest, what is thetrue role of 16α-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone and other 16-hydroxysteroids of 3β-hydroxy-5-eneseries. The present knowledge on the latter metabolite was summarized and discussed.Key words: 16α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone Œ 16-Hydroxyestrogens Œ Cancer Œ Autoim-mune diseases