Biosynthesis of Radioactive 18-Hydroxydeoxycorticosterone and 18-Hydroxycorticosterone from 17α-H3-Progesterone by Rat Adrenal Glands

Abstract

When rat adrenal tissue was incubated with 17α-H³ progesterone this substrate was converted to radioactive 18-hydroxycorticosterone and 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone. Pooling of these radioactive conversion products with those obtained in other nonradioactive experiments led to the isolation of 5.10 mg of radioactive 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone in crystalline form and approximately 50 μg of 18-hydroxycorticosterone. The specific activity of the former compound was found to be 42.1 μ Curies/mg while the total 18-hydroxycorticosterone isolated contained 6.65 × 10⁶ disintegrations/minute. Both substances are of a sufficiently high degree of purity to be used in tracer studies related to the biosynthesis of aldosterone.