Progestin metabolism in the rhesus monkey corpus luteum.

For the purpose of describing the pathway by which estrones are synthesized in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) corpus luteum (CL), CL were obtained during the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle and fragments incubated with equimolar amounts of [7-3H]pregnenolone plus [4-14C]progesterone. Metabolites including 3H-progesterone, 3H,14C-20 alpha-dihydroprogesterone, 3H,14C-17-hydroxyprogesterone, 3H-estrone and 3H-estradiol-17 beta appeared in the medium during the first 20 minutes of incubation. 3H,14C-Androstenedione was not consistently noted until after 60 minutes. Despite the fact that the 14C/3H-17-hydroxyprogesterone ratio quickly approached a constant value in the medium, 14C-estrogens were not detected in the medium or tissue fragments suggesting that progesterone was not a principal precursor for estrogen synthesis. As evidenced by the observation that the 14C/3H-progesterone ratio was significantly higher in luteal fragments than the 17-hydroxyprogesterone ratio, 17-hydroxyprogesterone appeared to be synthesized from pregnenolone both by way of progesterone and by another route which did not include progesterone. C21- and C18-Steroids were more concentrated in tissue fragments after 120 minutes of incubation than in the medium indicating that these steroids were sequestered by luteal tissue.