PEDIATRICS Vol. 25 No. 5 May 1960, pp. 781-787
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COMPARISON OF THE IN-VITRO METABOLISM OF TETRAHYDROCORTISONE IN THE LIVER OF THE FETAL, NEWBORN, PREGNANT AND NON-PREGNANT ADULT RAT

Robert E. Greenberg M.D.1 and Lytt I. Gardner M.D.1

1 Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center

In the study of corticosteroid metabolism means must be utilized to separate the initial sequential process of reduction of the A ring of the phenanthrene nucleus from the subsequent conjugation mechanism at the 3-hydroxyl position. Utilizing the in-vitro system described by Brown et al., the metabolism of tetrahydrocortisone by liver slices from adult female, pregnant, post-partum fetal and newborn rats was studied.

Liver slices from premature and newborn rats exhibited an intact although quantitatively reduced ability to metabolize tetrahydrocortisone, when compared to the normal adult rat. Liver slices from pregnant and post-partum rats similarly metabolized less tetrahydrocortisone, suggesting that similar factors might be affecting the conjugating mechanism in all four groups.

It is probable that incomplete development of enzymatic mechanisms in the young animal might be anticipated to be more pronounced and significant in terms of the highly specific enzymes and hydrogen donors involved in the initial reduction of the A ring of the steroid nucleus.

Submitted on August 24, 1959
Accepted on October 23, 1959