Testosterone metabolism by isolated human axillary Corynebacterium spp.: a gas-chromatographic mass-spectrometric...

Transformations of [4-14C]testosterone have been studied in Corynebacterium spp. isolated from the axillae of men. Metabolites have been separated by TLC and capillary gas chromatography and have been identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The introduction of a clean-up step using Florisil columns, prior to TLC, removed Tween-80 which co-extracted from the medium with the metabolites. This procedure greatly improved TLC resolution. Testosterone was converted enzymically to 5 alpha- and 5 beta-DHT, identification being assisted by the inclusion of [3,4-13C]testosterone in some incubations. Other metabolites formed enzymically were 4-androstene-3,17-dione, 5 beta-androstane-3,17-dione, 3 beta-hydroxy-5 beta-androstan-17-one and 5 beta-androstane-3 alpha .17 alpha-diol. Some spontaneous breakdown of [14C]testosterone occurred giving rise to 5 alpha (beta)-DHT, androstanediol and a monohydroxy-diketo-androstene, the latter being reduced enzymically to 2 monohydroxy-diketo-androstanes. Under the conditions used, no clear evidence has been obtained for the formation of 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one, an odorous steroid that occurs in the axillae of men; the possible reasons why we were unable to prove the biosynthesis of this compound are discussed.