International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Non-Classic Disorder of Adrenal Steroidogenesis and Clinical Dilemmas in 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency Combined with Backdoor Androgen Pathway. Mini-Review and Case Report Marta Sumi ´nska 1,* , Klaudia Bogusz-Górna 1, Dominika Wegner 1 and Marta Fichna 2 1 Department of Pediatric Diabetes and Obesity, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-527 Poznan, Poland;
[email protected] (K.B.-G.);
[email protected] (D.W.) 2 Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Internal Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-653 Poznan, Poland; mfi
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 3 June 2020; Accepted: 28 June 2020; Published: 29 June 2020 Abstract: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is the most common cause of primary adrenal insufficiency in children and adolescents. It comprises several clinical entities associated with mutations in genes, encoding enzymes involved in cortisol biosynthesis. The mutations lead to considerable (non-classic form) to almost complete (classic form) inhibition of enzymatic activity, reflected by different phenotypes and relevant biochemical alterations. Up to 95% cases of CAH are due to mutations in CYP21A2 gene and subsequent 21α-hydroxylase deficiency, characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis and adrenal androgen excess. In the past two decades an alternative (“backdoor”) pathway of androgens’ synthesis in which 5α-androstanediol, a precursor of the 5α-dihydrotestosterone, is produced from 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, with intermediate products 3α,5α-17OHP and androsterone, in the sequence and with roundabout of testosterone as an intermediate, was reported in some studies. This pathway is not always considered in the clinical assessment of patients with hyperandrogenism.