steroid hormone biosynthetic pathway PW:0000040 Those metabolic reactions involved in the synthesis of steroid hormones. All steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol. Steroid hormone metabolism is extremely complex and its molecular details are incompletely understood. De novo steroid biosynthesis is confined to very few tissues, primarily the adrenals, the gonads and the placenta. pathway steroid hormone biosynthetic process steroid biosynthetic pathway steroid hormone metabolic pathway