Normal Function
5α-Reductase is an enzyme that converts testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in peripheral tissues. 5-ARD is biochemically characterized by low to low-normal levels of testosterone and decreased levels of DHT, creating a higher testosterone/DHT ratio.
DHT is a potent androgen, and is necessary for the development of male external genitalia in utero.
Read more about this topic: 5-alpha-reductase Deficiency
Famous quotes containing the words normal and/or function:
“It is normal to give away a little of one’s life in order not to lose it all.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Philosophical questions are not by their nature insoluble. They are, indeed, radically different from scientific questions, because they concern the implications and other interrelations of ideas, not the order of physical events; their answers are interpretations instead of factual reports, and their function is to increase not our knowledge of nature, but our understanding of what we know.”
—Susanne K. Langer (1895–1985)