ABSTRACT
The tissue-specific expression of enzymes involved in peripheral steroid hormone metabolism has been shown to be a crucial aspect of hormone action. For corticosteroid hormone action, two isozymes of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (types 1 and 2) interconvert hormonally active cortisol and inactive cortisone. For sex steroid hormone action, a related family of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenases (17β-HSD) interconvert active and inactive estrogens and androgens. The remit of this chapter is to discuss these enzymes in terms of their function and the consequence of genetic defects within the genes which encode them.
