Research on Steroids contains the proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of the International Study Group for Steroid Hormones. The papers explore the production, chemical characterization, and metabolism of steroid hormones and their interactions with proteins. Topics range from the action of estradiol in vitro to water-soluble metabolites of estrogens, transport of steroids by proteins, and immunological aspects of steroid hormones. The binding of steroids by tissue proteins is also discussed, along with the use of specific plasma proteins for the determination of steroids. This volume is comprised of 38 chapters and begins with an overview of the general aspects of steroid-protein interaction, followed by a discussion on quantitative studies of steroid binding proteins; aromatization of testosterone by human placenta enzymes; relationship between plasma binding and 5α-reduction of testosterone; cortisol-binding capacity of plasma transcortin in subjects treated with various anabolic steroids; and plasma testosterone binding capacity and estrogen excretion in normal and pathological pregnancies. Subsequent chapters deal with the interaction between estrogenic and carcinogenic substances in the rat mammary gland; influence of steroid production on serum albumin in Cushing''s syndrome; and nuclear estradiol binding proteins in the uterus. This book will be of interest to biochemists, biologists, and physiologists.
