Sex Differences in Steroid Levels and Steroidogenesis in the Nervous System: Physiopathological Role

    November 2019 in “ Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology ”
    Silvia Giatti, Silvia Diviccaro, Melania Maria Serafini, Donatella Caruso, Luis M. García‐Segura, Bárbara Viviani, Roberto Cosimo Melcangi
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    TLDR Men and women have different levels and production of brain steroids, which may affect their risk for certain brain disorders.
    The document from 2020 discussed the role of neuroactive steroids in the nervous system, highlighting that their synthesis and levels show sex differences. It was found that neurosteroidogenesis is a sexually differentiated process, with brain progesterone levels and its metabolites being higher in pseudopregnant female rats than in males. The document also noted that neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders show sex differences in incidence, with Alzheimer's disease and Multiple Sclerosis being higher in females, while Parkinson's disease and stroke are higher in males. Altered levels of neuroactive steroids and neurosteroidogenic enzymes were detected in post-mortem brain tissue of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The document concluded that neuroactive steroids represent promising protective agents for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, and suggested neuroinflammation as a possible target for sex-specific therapy based on neuroactive steroids.
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