Attività della 3-beta-idrossisteroide deidrogenasi in testicoli criptorchidi di suino

Testicular descent into the scrotal sacs is a complex multistep embryonic process influenced by anatomical and hormonal factors; the failure of this event results in a frequent congenital anomaly of the urogenital tract named cryptorchidism. The aetiology of this pathology is idiopathic, multifactorial and in part due to a disturbance in steroid hormone methabolism and of the enzymes involved in this pathway. In this work we considered the activity of an enzyme complex named 3 b-hydroxy- D5 – steroid dehydrogenase (3 b-HSD), which plays an important role in the conversion of - D5-3 b-hydroxysteroids to -D4-3 b-chetosteroids, and in particular in the testis it is involved in the synthesis of testosterone. We determined the activity of 3 b-HSD in two different step of the metabolism utilizing as substrates pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone to establish a correlation between steroid synthesis and cryptorchidism in normal and abdominal pigs testis.