In plain words
Allopregnanolone is a hormone your body makes from progesterone. It is called a neurosteroid because it acts on the brain. It calms certain nerve receptors, which may help explain why progesterone can make you sleepy or relaxed. Levels rise during pregnancy and fall sharply after birth, when the placenta is gone. Researchers think this sudden drop may be part of why some mothers develop mood changes, insomnia, or anxiety. Not every mother who has a drop develops a mood disorder. It is one piece of a larger picture that includes sleep, stress, history, and support. Strong or lasting mood changes are worth raising with a provider. Feeling low or anxious is not a personal failing.
The deeper version
Allopregnanolone (3-alpha,5-alpha-tetrahydroprogesterone) is produced from progesterone by 5-alpha-reductase and 3-alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. It is a positive allosteric modulator of receptors, with hypnotic and anxiolytic effects demonstrated in human sleep studies, and exogenous progesterone increases non-REM sleep and daytime somnolence. The postpartum fall in circulating allopregnanolone is proposed as a neurobiological substrate for vulnerability to (Schiller and colleagues, 2015). The intravenous neuroactive steroid was approved in 2019 for severe postpartum depression, acting on this GABA-A pathway. Causality is unestablished, since most women with large hormone shifts do not develop depression. The controversy concerns whether allopregnanolone differences are a cause, a marker, or a consequence of mood disorders.
Where it comes up
- Postpartum depressionPostpartum: Mind
- Baby blues: the first two weeksPostpartum: Mind
- Can't sleep: pregnancy insomniaPregnancy: Your Body
- Therapy and medication after birth: what the options arePostpartum: Mind
- Postpartum anxietyPostpartum: Mind
What mothers here say about allopregnanolone
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Schiller CE, Meltzer-Brody S, Rubinow DR — The role of reproductive hormones in postpartum depression, CNS Spectrums (2015)
- US Food and Drug Administration — Brexanolone approval for postpartum depression (2019)