136 Betty L. Rubin, R. I. Dorfman and G. Pincus 



Apparently the daily dose of adrenosterone should be twice 

 as great, or the steroid administered should be androst-4-en- 

 llj8-ol-3,17-dione, which was demonstrated by Romanoff, 

 Hudson and Pincus (1953), to be the steroid produced by the 

 adrenal gland. This fact was demonstrated after the estab- 

 lishment of the experimental regime for this study. It is as 

 yet too early in the study to make a statement as to its 

 probable outcome. 



Summary 



Quantitative studies have been made of six a-17-ketosteroids 

 in the urines of normal young men and women (aged nineteen 

 to forty) and of normal old men and women (aged seventy 

 to eighty-eight). There is no significant difference in the 

 excretion of any of these compounds between men and women 

 of the same age group. When the excretion of the steroids 

 by old men and women is compared with that by young men 

 and women, it is found that androsterone and 8etiocholan- 

 3a-ol-17-one excretion are decreased to 20-30 per cent of the 

 values for the younger group, while excretion of 5a-ll- 

 oxygenated steroids is 50 per cent of that of the younger 

 group, and excretion of 5jS- 11 -oxygenated steroids is 60 per 

 cent of that of the younger group. If this difference be dis- 

 cussed in terms of those adrenal enzyme systems involved 

 in converting cholesterol, acetate, or other precursors, to the 

 steroid hormones, it would appear that the enzyme systems 

 functioning in old age at the lowest level in comparison with 

 those of young adults are the ones which convert the pre- 

 cursors to dehydroepiandrosterone. The conversion from 

 Zl^-3^-hydroxy to Zl*-3-ketone and the 11 -oxygenating func- 

 tion are less impaired. Cgi steroids are also being formed and 

 oxygenated at C-11 relatively efficiently. This is in agreement 

 with those studies which have demonstrated a greater 

 decrease with age in total 17-ketosteroid excretion than in 

 corticosteroid excretion. 



The significance of this finding with respect to the signs 

 and symptoms of old age is a subject only for speculation 



