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. 2014 Oct 2;20(1):427–434. doi: 10.2119/molmed.2014.00105

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Metabolism of estrogen receptor β physiological ligand, 3β-adiol. Aromatase converts estradiol into testosterone, which is converted downstream to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by 5α-reductase. DHT is metabolized to 3β-adiol in two ways; 3-keto reduction of DHT to 3β-adiol by enzyme AKR1C1 (or AKR1C3) or alternatively 3-keto reduction of DHT to 3α-adiol by AKR1C2 followed by 3α- to 3β-hydroxysteroid epimerization by B17b hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17bHSD6). No matter the origin, 3β-adiol is further metabolized to triols by CYP7B1.