title: Role of progesterone and other neuroactive steroids in anxiety disorders.
abstract: It remains unexplained why a greater prevalence of anxiety disorders exists in women than in men, and how female hormone-related events (i.e., menstrual cycle and postpartum) can influence the course of anxiety disorders. It would appear logical that female hormones and their derivatives play a major role in these observations. The abundance of preclinical data demonstrating a role for sex hormones and their derivatives in anxiety-like behavior is in contrast to the relative paucity of experimental clinical data on the role of female hormones and neuroactive steroids in anxiety disorders. There is a dramatic potential for therapeutic anxiolytic activity of pharmacological compounds derived from powerful anxiolytic agents, such as the progesterone derivative, allopregnanolone. As a result, there is currently tremendous interest from the pharmaceutical industry in developing and testing such agents in anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. jean-michel.lemelledo@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Le Mellédo
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011374:Progesterone / Q000502:physiology*; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000502:physiology; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D011374:Progesterone; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors