Metabolism and binding in vitro of 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol and of 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol in cell fractions of rat ventral prostate and liver.

Rat ventral prostate and liver were investigated for the binding in vitro to particulate fractions and for the metabolism of 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol. Comparative investigations were carried out on the metabolism of 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol. Preparations of the liver were investigated in order to establish the organ specificity of the method. In the prostate, the bulk of the metabolites of 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol was present as steroids of high polarity. Of the less polar metabolites, 17 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-3-one, 3 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan, 17-one and 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol were detectable. The binding of a 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta, 17 beta-diol to mitochondria and microsomes was unspecific. In the liver, among the less polar metabolites, 3 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-17-one was the main metabolite, and the binding was unspecific. The main metabolite in the prostate homogenate of 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol was 17 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-3-one. The portion of highly polar steroids was very low. The portion of unmetabolized hormone was distributed almost equally among the different cell preparations except the nuclei, in which 17 beta-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-3-one was higher and 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha, 17 beta-diol was lower than in the remaining cell fractions.