Steroid Biosynthesis in Vitro by Cryptorchid Testes from a Case of Testicular Feminization

T feminization is a form of male pseudohermaphroditism. In this condition, the testes are immature and situated intra-abdominally, or present as herniae in the inguinal region or in the labia majora. Affected patients are female phenotypes who have quite welldeveloped breasts, but usually scanty or absent pubic and axillary hair. The vagina is short and usually ends blindly. They are often attractive in appearance and may marry. Cell nuclei, however, are chromatin negative and the karyotype is of male character. There is a high familial incidence consistent with either a sex-limited recessive or a sex-limited dominant trait. Morris (1) refers to over 50 cases reported prior to 1953, and Molinoff and Armstrong (2) cover 39 additional cases. Although the testes are removed because of their reputed liability to become malignant (1), no in vitro biochemical studies of such tissues have been reported. The metabolism of 4-C-progesterone, 4-C-17o:-hydroxyprogesterone, 4-Candrost-4-ene-3,17-dione (androstenedione) and 4-C-testosterone by feminizing testes surgically removed from a patient is now reported. A preliminary account of this work was communicated by Griffiths and Grant (3).