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Published on: May 21, 2014
Presence of 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 3 messenger ribonucleic acid transcript in an ovarian
1Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Objective:
To evaluate the level of 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17 beta-HSD) type 1, 2, and 3 transcripts in a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, adjacent theca lutein ovarian tissue, and normal control ovarian stromal tissue.
Setting:
An academic medical center.
Design:
Total RNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue slides and used for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with primers specific for 17 beta-HSD types 1, 2, or 3. The PCR products were subjected to Southern hybridization with 5' [32P] end-labeled internal primers for each type of the isozymes.
Patient(S):
A 35-year-old woman with a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor on her right ovary. The tumor and the right ovary were surgically removed. Control ovarian stromal tissue was obtained from a woman undergoing hysterectomy for uterine leiomyomata.
Result(S):
In the control ovarian stromal tissue, the transcripts for the type 1 and type 2 isoforms were the predominant transcripts detected. In the Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, the transcript for the type 3 isoform was the predominant transcript detected. Ovarian tissue from the same ovary as the Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor (diagnosed as theca lutein cysts on histologic examination) expressed the type 2 and 3 transcripts.
Conclusion(S):
The 17 beta-HSD type 3 isoform efficiently converts androstenedione to T and is the predominant HSD isoform in the testis. In hyperandrogenism caused by a Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor, both the tumor tissue and nontumor tissue from the same ovary expressed the "testicular" form of the 17 beta-HSD.
