Liver samples from four patients, ages 6 hours, 2 days, 2 months and 60 years, were homogenized and incubated with pregnenolone-3H. 16-OH-pregnenolone was identified as a product in each incubation through multiple Chromatographic procedures and crystallization to constant specific activity. The 16α-hydroxylase activity was greater in the newborn infants than in the older patients. The
... [Show full abstract] physiological role of this enzyme activity in post-natal life is unknown but the large excretion of 16α-hydroxysteroids in early infancy suggests that 16α-hydroxylation may serve to inactivate excess amounts of active steroid precursors secreted by the adrenal cortex.
