Placental metabolism of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate in normal pregnancy

An intravenous injection of 50 mg dehydroepiandrosterone was given to 19 women at the 38th week of pregnancy. The concentration of androstenedione, testosterone, oestradiol and oestrone in plasma was measured at intervals following the injection. The concentration of androstenedione and testosterone rose rapidly; reaching a peak after 10 minutes and returning to near baseline level by 30 minutes. Oestradiol rose more slowly, reaching a peak after 45 minutes and being sustained at high levels for 3 1/2 hours before returning slowly to baseline. Oestrone rose yet more slowly and did not reach a peak until 2 1/2 hours after the injection. It is concluded that the steroid responses are too variable from one individual to another for this test to be useful in the clinical assessment of fetal wellbeing but that it was likely to be a powerful tool in the investigation of placental steroid biogenesis.