Metabolism of 7-³H-dehydroisoandrosterone in patients with virilizing adrenal tumors

Two normal subjects and three patients with virilizing adrenal tumor received an infusion of 7-³H-dehydroisoandrosterone. The total amount of radioactivity in urinary DS, DG and a DG artifact represented 33.95-38.35% of the dose injected in the patients and 1.16-7.43% in the controls, while the amount in AS, AG, ES and EG was 16.5-20.6% in the patients and 41.8-43.5% in the controls. These results demonstrated a marked change in D metabolism in patients with virilizing adrenal tumor. The specific activity of DG was greater than that of DS in the two control subjects but was equal in the three patients. The specific activity of DG was larger than that of AG in one control but was lower in the other control and in the three patients. These findings suggest that urinary DG in at least some normal subjects and in patients with virilizing adrenal tumor arises not only from the D pool but also from another precursor which does not dilute this pool.