Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and 3 beta-hydroxyandrosta-5,7-dien-17-one (7-dehydro-DHEA) are secreted in large quantities by the remarkably hypertrophied fetal gonads of both sexes in the pregnant mare. Their secretion serves as the fetal component of a feto-placental unit for oestrogen production in equine pregnancies. They are secreted in large amounts but show a decline in late pregnancy when the fetal gonads regress and levels of oestrogens in the mare fall as a consequence. We have examined the levels of these precursor steroids in the newborn foal in the first days after birth. DHEA and 7-dehydro-DHEA were measured in peripheral plasma in a direct RIA with a DHEA antibody which cross-reacts with 7-dehydro DHEA (> 150%). Subsequent studies were performed with solid-phase extraction, separation of unconjugated from conjugated steroids, and HPLC fractionation followed by RIA. Detection on HPLC at 254 and 280 nm was compared with results from RIA. It was concluded that DHEA is the major steroid produced by the gonads at birth. The concentrations are highly variable in the first day of postnatal life (70.45 +/- 63.06 ng/ml, n = 52) and decline rapidly to < 2 ng/ml (n = 6) at 96 h after birth. At this time the sulphate form is also seen, with an increasing ratio of DHEAS/DHEA as the value for total DHEA falls. The mechanism and significance of the apparent abrupt decline in gonadal steroidogenesis in the newborn foal remain unknown.

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