Steroids

Steroids
Cholesterol, a steroid. All steroids have a basic skeleton of four rings (three 6-carbon rings and one 5-carbon ring) with various side groups attached.
Figure 2-9 Cholesterol, a steroid.
All steroids have a basic skeleton
of four rings (three 6-carbon
rings and one 5-carbon ring)
with various side groups attached.

Steroids are complex alcohols. Although they are structurally unlike fats, they have fatlike properties. The steroids are a large group of biologically important molecules, including cholesterol (Figure 2-9), vitamin D, many adrenocortical hormones, and the sex hormones.