Pharmacological Classification of Steroid Hormones

Abstract

UP to the present, the physiological classification and terminology of steroid hormones was based either on one of their outstanding actions (‘œstrogens’, ‘progestins’) or on their source of origin (‘corpus luteum hormone’, ‘adrenal cortical hormone’, ‘testis hormone’). Such a classification is no longer possible, since we know, for example, that ‘testis hormones’ may originate in the adrenal cortex and may exert ‘œstrogenic’ actions. In spite of the considerable overlapping between the physiological actions of the steroid hormones, they can and must be classified into certain groups. It is felt that the best solution of the problem is to classify the steroid hormone actions according to the degree to which they are able to imitate or substitute for the function of a certain endocrine gland. Accordingly these groups might be given names reminiscent of the glands and yet indicating that this does not imply that such glands are the only source of the hormone.