Sex hormone

Sex hormone
Drug class
Estradiol, an important estrogen sex hormone in both women and men
Class identifiers
Synonyms	Sex steroid; Gonadal steroid
Use	Various
Biological target	Sex hormone receptors
Chemical class	Steroidal; Nonsteroidal
Legal status
In Wikidata

Sex hormones, also known as sex steroids, gonadocorticoids and gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate steroid hormone receptors.^[1] The sex hormones include the androgens, estrogens, and progestogens. Their effects are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and signaling cascades.^[2] The polypeptide hormones luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone – each associated with the gonadotropin axis – are usually not regarded as sex hormones, although they play major sex-related roles.