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Recently, obesity has been listed as important health problems not only in adults but also in children. Prevalence of pediatric obesity has been rising in the last half century in most of the developed countries including Japan. In addition to changes in lifestyle, which are shown to have contributed greatly to promote weight gain in recent years, patients with some syndromes or diseases may have obesity as one of the manifestations of the disorders especially in childhood. Obese individuals are commonly accompanied by derangement in various organs, such as metabolic and cardiovascular systems, in children as well as adults. Diagnostic criteria for obesity-disease and metabolic syndrome were proposed on the basis of data obtained from Japanese children.

Steroid hormones play the critical roles in human. Glucocorticoid is indispensable for the life. Mineralocorticoid regulates the balance of electrolytes. Androgen and estrogen are necessary for sexual development. In the biosynthesis of steroid hormone, many cytochrome P450 enzymes and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases work. P450 enzymes catalyze the hydroxylation and cleavage of the steroid substrate. They function as monooxygenases utilizing NADPH as the electron donor for the reduction of molecular oxygen. The hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases belong to the short-chain alcoholdehydrogenase reductase superfamily. They are involved in the reduction and oxidation of steroid hormones requiring NAD+/NADP+ as acceptors. Most genes and genetic regulation of these enzymes have been clarified. This review presents a description of the enzymes and the genes involved in the biosynthesis of active steroid hormones.