Is anyone here on the schizophrenia forum supplementing with pregnenolone? What effects have you noticed? I hear it can be very helpful in relieving negative cognitive symptoms, i.g. lifting brain fog, improving memory, attention, etc.
I found three clinical trials that had demonstrated effect...
Pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: an 8-week, double-blind, randomized, controlled, 2-center, parallel-group trial.
Ritsner MS, Gibel A, Shleifer T, Boguslavsky I, Zayed A, Maayan R, Weizman A, Lerner V.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2010 Oct;71(10):1351-62. doi: 10.4088/JCP.09m05031yel. Epub 2010 Jun 15.
PMID: 20584515
Pregnenolone for cognition and mood in dual diagnosis patients.
Osuji IJ, Vera-Bolaños E, Carmody TJ, Brown ES.
Psychiatry Res. 2010 Jul 30;178(2):309-12. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2009.09.006. Epub 2010 May 21.
PMID: 20493557
Proof-of-concept trial with the neurosteroid pregnenolone targeting cognitive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
Marx CE, Keefe RS, Buchanan RW, Hamer RM, Kilts JD, Bradford DW, Strauss JL, Naylor JC, Payne VM, Lieberman JA, Savitz AJ, Leimone LA, Dunn L, Porcu P, Morrow AL, Shampine LJ.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009 Jul;34(8):1885-903. doi: 10.1038/npp.2009.26. Epub 2009 Apr 1.
PMID: 19339966
Additionally, I also found these journal articles...
The neuroactive steroid pregnenolone sulfate stimulates trafficking of functional N-methyl D-aspartate receptors to the cell surface via a noncanonical, G protein, and Ca2+-dependent mechanism.
Kostakis E, Smith C, Jang MK, Martin SC, Richards KG, Russek SJ, Gibbs TT, Farb DH.
Mol Pharmacol. 2013 Aug;84(2):261-74. doi: 10.1124/mol.113.085696. Epub 2013 May 28.
PMID: 23716622
Pregnenolone rescues schizophrenia-like behavior in dopamine transporter knockout mice.
Wong P, Chang CC, Marx CE, Caron MG, Wetsel WC, Zhang X.
PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51455. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051455. Epub 2012 Dec 11.
PMID: 23240026
A steroid modulatory domain in NR2A collaborates with NR1 exon-5 to control NMDAR modulation by pregnenolone sulfate and protons.
Kostakis E, Jang MK, Russek SJ, Gibbs TT, Farb DH.
J Neurochem. 2011 Nov;119(3):486-96. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2011.07442.x. Epub 2011 Sep 28.
PMID: 21883211
Pregnenolone as a novel therapeutic candidate in schizophrenia: emerging preclinical and clinical evidence.
Marx CE, Bradford DW, Hamer RM, Naylor JC, Allen TB, Lieberman JA, Strauss JL, Kilts JD.
Neuroscience. 2011 Sep 15;191:78-90. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.06.076. Epub 2011 Jul 1. Review.
PMID: 21756978
The clinical and therapeutic potentials of dehydroepiandrosterone and pregnenolone in schizophrenia.
Ritsner MS.
Neuroscience. 2011 Sep 15;191:91-100. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.04.017. Epub 2011 Apr 24. Review.
PMID: 21549182
Pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and schizophrenia: alterations and clinical trials.
Ritsner MS.
CNS Neurosci Ther. 2010 Spring;16(1):32-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-5949.2009.00118.x. Review.
PMID: 20070787
Pregnenolone sulfate induces NMDA receptor dependent release of dopamine from synaptic terminals in the striatum.
Whittaker MT, Gibbs TT, Farb DH.
J Neurochem. 2008 Oct;107(2):510-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05627.x. Epub 2008 Aug 14.
PMID: 18710414
Differences in blood pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels between schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects.
Ritsner M, Maayan R, Gibel A, Weizman A.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007 Apr;17(5):358-65. Epub 2006 Nov 21.
PMID: 17123790
Clozapine markedly elevates pregnenolone in rat hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and serum: candidate mechanism for superior efficacy?
Marx CE, Shampine LJ, Duncan GE, VanDoren MJ, Grobin AC, Massing MW, Madison RD, Bradford DW, Butterfield MI, Lieberman JA, Morrow AL.
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006 Aug;84(4):598-608. Epub 2006 Sep 8.
PMID: 16962649
Effects of a neurosteroid, pregnenolone, during the neonatal period on adenosine A1 receptor, dopamine metabolites in the fronto-parietal cortex and behavioral response in the open field.
Muneoka KT, Shirayama Y, Minabe Y, Takigawa M.
Brain Res. 2002 Nov 29;956(2):332-8.
PMID: 12445703