Gender in humans, whether male or female, is primarily determined by the sex chromosomes inherited by the individual. However, the normal development and maturation of sex glands (i.e., gonads) depends on the proper production of some hormones by the anterior pituitary gland, such as the growth hormone, the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), prolactin, and the gonadotropic hormones known as luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The anterior pituitary, in turn, is controlled by the hypothalamus, which secretes six different regulatory hormones. Gonads, or sex glands in the male and the female synthesize specific hormones in response to gonadotropic hormonal stimulation that confer each gender the particular characteristics that distinguish one sex from the other.

Male hormones, or androgens, are steroid hormones soluble in lipids, and synthesized either from cholesterol or from acetyl coenzyme A. Some androgens are secreted by the testes and others by the...