[2][3][4] It is also a chemical intermediate in the biosynthesis of many other endogenous steroids, including androgens, estrogens, glucocorticoids, and mineralocorticoids, as well as neurosteroids.

[10] This steroid is primarily produced in the adrenal glands and to some degree in the gonads, specifically the corpus luteum of the ovary.

[11][12] Measurements of levels of 17α-OHP are useful in the evaluation of patients with suspected congenital adrenal hyperplasia as the typical enzymes that are defective, namely 21-hydroxylase and 11β-hydroxylase, lead to a build-up of 17α-OHP.

[14] Immunoassays like RIA (radioimmunoassay) or IRMA (immunoradiometric assay) used to clinically determine 17α-OHP are prone to cross-reactivity with the 17α-OHP steroid precursors and their sulphated conjugates.

[15][16] Measurement of 17α-OHP by LC-MS/MS improves newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, because 17α-OHP steroid precursors and their sulphated conjugates which are present in the first two days after birth and longer in pre-term neonates, cross-react in immunoassays with 17α-OHP, giving falsely high 17α-OHP levels.