How many of the following hormones are steroids?
Insulin, Testosterone, Thyroxine, Estradiol, Endorphins, Glucocorticoids, Epinephrine
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → 3
By chemical nature, hormones are of three kinds: steroids, polypeptides and amino acid derivatives. Steroid hormones are produced by the adrenal cortex and the gonads (testes and ovaries).
Steroid:
Testosterone (the major male sex hormone, released by the gonads)
Estradiol (the main female sex hormone, released by the gonads)
Glucocorticoids (released by the adrenal cortex)
Not steroid:
Insulin — a polypeptide.
Thyroxine — an amino acid derivative (an iodinated derivative of tyrosine).
Endorphins — polypeptides.
Epinephrine — an amino acid derivative.
Steroid hormones: testosterone, estradiol and glucocorticoids = 3.
NCERT (2026-27 edition):
10.6 Hormones – “In terms of chemical nature, some of these are steroids, e.g., estrogens and androgens; some are poly peptides for example insulin and endorphins and some others are amino acid derivatives such as epinephrine and norepinephrine.”
“…Thyroxine produced in the thyroid gland is an iodinated derivative of amino acid tyrosine.”
“Steroid hormones are produced by adrenal cortex and gonads (testes in males and ovaries in females). Hormones released by the adrenal cortex play very important role in the functions of the body. For example, glucocorticoids control the carbohydrate metabolism… Hormones released by gonads are responsible for development of secondary sex characters. Testosterone is the major sex hormone produced in males. … and estradiol is the main female sex hormone.”