Steroid hormones are not stored prior to release and so must be synthesized de novo upon each new stimulus.
The precursor of all steroids is cholesterol which can be manufactured at most sites; the placenta is the exception, needing to absorb cholesterol from the blood prior to steroid biosynthesis.
In terms of the sex steroids, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal cortex from cholesterol. It is the primary precursor of both the androgen and oestrogen sex hormones. DHEA is also called dehydroisoandrosterone or dehydroandrosterone.
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