Question

A women may develop beard and moustaches due to
(a) Hypersecretion of the adrenal cortex
(b) Hypersecretion of thyroxine
(c) Hyposecretion of adrenaline
(d) Hyposecretion of thyroxine

Answer 1

Hint: The steroid hormones which are made from cholesterol in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria of endocrine cells are responsible for development of male characters. This hormone is produced from zona reticularis whose primary secretion is androgen.

Complete step by step answer:
Zone reticularis is the region of the adrenal cortex which is the innermost zone between the fasciculata and medulla. Zono reticularis secretes androgenic hormones which exhibit approximately the same effects as the male sex hormone testosterone. Androgen is generally referred to as male hormones which stimulate or control the development and maintenance of male characteristics like body hair growth and voice change.

- In females androgens have an important function in the production of E2 which is estradiol, another form of estrogen in the ovary and adipose tissue.
- Androgen in females is responsible for the development and maintenance of axillary and pubic hair.
- There are six types of androgens in females:
Androstenedione
Dehydro-epiandrosterone
Dehydro-epiandrosterone
Testosterone
Di-hydro testosterone
3 alpha androstanediol glucuronide
So, the correct answer is ‘(a) Hypersecretion of the adrenal cortex.’

Note:
- In male androgen assist the development of male characteristics and proper development of male sex organs during embryonic development.
- Steroid hormones produced by the gonads and adrenal cortex are lipid- soluble thus they cannot be stored in vesicles in endocrine cells and their receptors are located in the cytoplasm target cell.
- Hormone produced by the adrenal cortex is referred to as corticosteroids which comprise mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids and androgen.
- Adrenal cortex is divided into three regions outermost zone zona glomerulosa which secretes mineralocorticoids, middle zone fasciculate which secretes glucocorticoids and the innermost zone zona reticularis which secretes androgens