Depression is a common and serious mental health condition that affects millions of people around the world. According to the World Health Organization, about 5% of the global population suffers from depression.
It’s more than just feeling sad—it can cause deep feelings of hopelessness, lack of energy, and loss of interest in things people once enjoyed. For many, depression becomes a long-term struggle that affects relationships, work, and overall quality of life.
Over the years, doctors and scientists have developed many ways to treat depression. These include talking therapies (like cognitive behavioral therapy), natural remedies, and a wide range of medications.
Some of the most common drugs are SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors), which work by changing brain chemicals linked to mood.
Other types include older drugs like tricyclic antidepressants and MAO inhibitors, and newer medications that work in different ways. While many people do find relief from these treatments, others do not. For some, none of the standard options work, even after trying multiple medications. This condition is known as treatment-resistant depression, or TRD.
In recent years, researchers have started looking at a different kind of treatment—neurosteroids. These are natural substances made by the brain that help control how brain cells talk to each other.
Unlike typical antidepressants, neurosteroids don’t just focus on serotonin or other common mood-related chemicals. Instead, they work on several brain systems at once, including the brain’s stress response system and the balance between calming and exciting brain activity.
A new review from researchers at Smt. Kishoritai Bhoyar College of Pharmacy in India took a close look at past studies on neurosteroids to understand how well they might work for people with hard-to-treat depression.
The researchers, including Krutika Nagpurkar and Pratik Ghive, focused on neurosteroids like allopregnanolone, pregnenolone, and DHEA, which have been tested in both animal studies and human trials.
These compounds seem to have several effects that may help improve depression. First, they affect GABA_A receptors, which help calm brain activity. They also affect NMDA receptors, which are involved in learning and memory. Together, these actions may help balance the brain and improve mood.
Neurosteroids also help regulate the brain’s stress system, known as the HPA axis. In people with depression, this system often becomes overactive and adds to feelings of stress and anxiety. Neurosteroids may help calm this system and protect the brain from damage caused by long-term stress.
In animal studies, neurosteroids have shown the ability to reduce depression-like behavior caused by stress. Human trials have also shown promise, with some people experiencing fast and lasting relief.
One neurosteroid, brexanolone, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2019 for treating postpartum depression. While it’s not yet widely available, this approval shows that neurosteroids are starting to be seen as a real treatment option.
The review by Nagpurkar and colleagues points out that neurosteroids could help people who haven’t gotten better with standard drugs.
They say these brain-based treatments work differently from the usual ones and may be better suited for treating complex, long-lasting forms of depression. Because of their broad effects on the brain, neurosteroids may also help with other stress-related mental health issues.
However, there’s still more to learn. Scientists need to understand how safe these treatments are in the long run, and how exactly they work in different people. Genetics, metabolism, and brain chemistry may all affect how someone responds to neurosteroids. More studies, including long-term trials in humans, are needed to answer these questions.
In summary, neurosteroids offer new hope for people with severe depression that hasn’t improved with other treatments. They work in unique ways and may protect and restore brain functions damaged by stress and depression.
While more research is needed, this new review supports the idea that neurosteroids could play an important role in the future of mental health treatment—especially for those who’ve been left behind by current options.
If you care about health, please read studies that scientists find a core feature of depression and this metal in the brain strongly linked to depression.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about drug for mental health that may harm the brain, and results showing this therapy more effective than ketamine in treating severe depression.
The research findings can be found in Neuroscience.
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