Figure 1.

The current understanding of the canonical and alternate pathways of androgen biosynthesis. Independent of which pathway is used (black arrow), all androgens originate from cholesterol and are converted by multiple enzymes to produce the active androgens testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The canonical pathway produces testosterone, which can act directly on the androgen receptor or be used as a precursor to the more potent androgen DHT. The alternate pathway (green arrows enclosed by the dotted line) can synthesise DHT, bypassing the need for testosterone synthesis. The canonical pathway includes Δ4 and Δ5 pathways; humans favour the Δ5 pathway (yellow arrows), whereas mice preference the Δ4 pathway (red arrows). Created with BioRender.com (accessed on 31 October 2022).