The biosynthesis of estrogens

HE steroidal estrogens are distinguished T from the other groups of steroid hormones that are important in bodily function by virtue of the fact that they can be formed not oiily in expected endocrine tissues, such as ovaries, testes, adrenal cortex, and probably placenta, but also in nonendocrine tissues, apparently from preformed steroids. This is a characteristic that obviously confuses and makes more difficult the interpretation of metabolic studies on estrogenic substances, the delineation of their anabolic and catabolic pathways, and the study of their physiological role.