17-ketosteroids and Alcoholism

To evaluate the status of the testes, thyroid, and adrenals in male alcoholics during the period of voluntary abstinence and therapy, chronic male drinkers undergoing a 4 wk inpatient deaddiction programme in a social hospital were recruited. Levels of a few serum and urinary hormones/metabolites viz., serum testosterone, total triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) and urinary total 17-ketosteroids (17-KS), estrone, estradiol, and 17-hydroxy corticosteroids (17-OHCS) were assessed in alcoholics thrice during the treatment programme at hospital i.e., on the zero (day of admission), 10th, and 20th day and compared to those of non-alcoholic controls. Alcoholics registered elevated serum total T3, and reduced total T4 and testosterone levels at admission, which persisted even after 20 days of the rehabilitative programme. Markedly high urinary levels of total 17-KS, estrone, and 17-OHCS were observed on zero day of admission. Urinary estrone and 17-OHCS, unlike total 17-KS, showed a trend to return to the normal range during the 20 days period. Urinary estradiol levels, however, recorded no significant alteration. The results of this preliminary study are suggestive of alcohol-induced perturbations on the functional integrity of the testes, thyroid, and adrenal in male alcohol addicts, wherein 20 days period of total alcohol abstinence and rehabilitative programme failed to reverse alcohol-induced hypoandrogenization and altered thyroidal status, but only partially restored certain biochemical events associated with the excretion of steroid metabolites.

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adrenal Cortex; Adult; Alcoholism; Estradiol; Estrone; Humans; Male; Testis; Testosterone; Thyroid Gland; Thyroxine; Triiodothyronine

Six chronic alcoholics with stigmata of Cushing's syndrome were studied before and after a period of alcohol abstinence. In all of them, after a minimum period of 3-4 weeks, a marked clinical and laboratory improvement was noted. The authors suggest that damage at brain level, with neurotransmitters' disturbance, caused by chronic alcoholism underlies the Pseudo-Cushing's Syndrome. The primum movens could be a disorder of the pituitary-adrenal axis secondary to a dysfunction of neurotransmitters with stimulation of ACTH-secreting cells of the adenohypophysis by the certicotropin-releasing factor (CRF).

Topics: 11-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adolescent; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Adult; Alcoholism; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; Cushing Syndrome; Dexamethasone; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Male; Radioimmunoassay

The adrenal cortex functional activity in males with alcoholsim of the 2nd stage (128 cases) in respect to the production of glucocorticoids and mineral-corticoids is decreased. The biosynthesis of androgens, as can be seen by the 17-KS urine excretion, is increased. Abstinence from alcohol during treatment with teturam in combination with neuroleptical drugs was accompanied by an increased elimination of glucocorticoids and a normalization of the metabolic indices of the main electrolytes. In all the examined cases of alcoholism with the 2nd stage irrespective of the duration of the disease there was an increased amount of androgens, possibly as a compensatory reaction to metabolic disturbances, due to chronic alcoholic intoxication.

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adult; Alcoholism; Chronic Disease; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Potassium; Sodium

Topics: 17-Ketosteroids; Alcoholism; Female; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Male

Topics: 17-Ketosteroids; Adult; Alcoholism; Androsterone; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Ethanol; Etiocholanolone; Humans; Liver; Male; Middle Aged; Testosterone

Topics: 17-Ketosteroids; Acetaldehyde; Adrenal Glands; Adult; Aged; Alcoholism; Blood Proteins; Ethanol; Female; Humans; Iodine; Male; Middle Aged; Protein Binding; Substance-Related Disorders; Thyroid Gland; Time Factors

Topics: 17-Ketosteroids; Adult; Alcohol Drinking; Alcoholism; Chronic Disease; Disulfiram; Humans; Insulin; Male; Middle Aged; Sex Factors; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adult; Alcoholism; Aldosterone; Androgens; Glucose Tolerance Test; Humans; Insulin; Male

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Alcoholism; Aldehyde-Lyases; Chronic Disease; Enzymes; Estrogens; Gonadotropins; Hepatitis; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Italy; Liver; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Diseases; Liver Function Tests; Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase; Porphyrias; Porphyrins; Pregnanediol; Transaminases

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Aged; Alcoholism; Back Pain; Chronic Disease; Female; Humans; Liver

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adult; Alcoholism; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Function Tests; Male

Topics: 17-Hydroxycorticosteroids; 17-Ketosteroids; Adrenal Glands; Adult; Alcoholic Beverages; Alcoholism; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pituitary Gland; Pituitary-Adrenal System

Topics: 17-Ketosteroids; Alcoholism; Body Fluids; Steroids; Urine