A 17-year-old girl was having an irregular menstrual cycle. Her mother took her to their family physician. She was diagnosed with adrenal virilism. Study the picture given below and answer the following:
Hypersecretion of which hormone results in Adrenal Virilism in human females?
Topic: Adrenal virilism
Answer
Hypersecretion of ANDROGENS (male sex hormones) from the ADRENAL CORTEX.
The adrenal cortex normally secretes a small quantity of androgens in both sexes. When it oversecretes them in a female, male characteristics begin to appear — which is what "virilism" means (viril- = male).
THE WORD ITSELF gives the answer. Adrenal tells you the gland; virilism tells you that male hormones are involved. Reading a disorder’s name apart is often faster than recalling it.
Keep the two parts of the adrenal gland separate, because they secrete quite different things: ADRENAL CORTEX (outer) — cortisol, aldosterone and androgens. Its disorders include adrenal virilism, Addison’s disease and Cushing’s syndrome. ADRENAL MEDULLA (inner) — adrenaline and noradrenaline, the emergency hormones.