Androsterone has generally been considered to be an inactive metabolite of testosterone, which when conjugated by glucuronidation and sulfation allows testosterone to be removed from the body, but it is a weakneurosteroid that can cross into the brain and could have effects on brain function.[8]
The view of androsterone as generally being of low significance however, seems to need review in the light of 21st century research, which suggests that androsterone significantly affectsmasculinization in mammalian fetuses. Masculinization of the external genitalia in humans is subject to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) derived via the recognised androgenic pathway and also via abackdoor pathway.[10] Androstanediol, a metabolite of androsterone, can be used a marker of the backdoor pathway of DHT synthesis.[11] Spectrometric studies identify androsterone as the main backdoor androgen in the human male fetus. Circulating levels are sex dependent, DHT being essentially absent in the female, in which titres of backdoor intermediates also are very low.[12]
In males, backdoor intermediates occur mainly in the liver and adrenal of the fetus, and in the placenta — hardly at all in the testis. Instead, progesterone in the placenta is the main backdoor substrate for androgen synthesis. This also is consistent with the observation that placental insufficiency has been associated with disruptions of development of fetal genitalia.[12]
Androsterone is found in the humanaxilla andskin as well as in theurine.[13] It may also be secreted by humansebaceous glands.[13] It is described as having a musky odor similar to that ofandrostenol.[13] Androsterone has been found to affect human behavior when smelled.[13]
Androsterone was first isolated in 1931, byAdolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt andKurt Tscherning. They distilled over 17,000 liters (3,700 imp gal; 4,500 U.S. gal) of male urine, from which they got 50 milligrams (0.77 gr) of crystalline androsterone, which was sufficient to find that the chemical formula was very similar toestrone.
^Motofei IG (November 2011). "A dual physiological character for cerebral mechanisms of sexuality and cognition: common somatic peripheral afferents".BJU International.108 (10):1634–1639.doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10116.x.PMID21489118.S2CID25941894.
^abcdMaiworm RE, Langthaler WU (1992). "Influence of Androstenol and Androsterone on the Evalulation of Men of Varying Attractiveness Levels".Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 6. pp. 575–579.doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-9655-1_88.ISBN978-1-4757-9657-5.
^Janeczko A, Skoczowski A (2005). "Mammalian sex hormones in plants".Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica.43 (2):71–79.PMID16044944.
