Posted by undopaminergic on October 12, 2023, at 4:13:49
In reply to Re: Zuranalone is 'deemed' ineffective for MDD by FDA. » undopaminergic, posted by SLS on October 11, 2023, at 11:23:14
> > In my view, it's worth making a new drug available (if not toxic) simply because of its having a novel mechanism of action. If it does, it's almost certain to be useful in *some* cases.
> >
> > -undopaminergic
> >\
>
>
> Agreed. Unfortunately, zuranolone might be acting more like a sex steroid than any of the established antidepressants.
>Why is that unfortunate?
> I didn't realize this until you put up your post. It motivated me to take another look at zuranolone in the context of it possibly being specific for PPD. I decided to check if it was derived from, or acted like, a neuroactive sex-steroid. That might account for zuranolone being specific for PPD, and ineffective in MDD.
>
> Well, it turns out that zuranolone is indeed a neuroactive steroid that is chemically related to allopregnanolone, a sex hormone precursor. Both zuranolone and allopregnanolone act as a positive allosteric modulators of GABA-A receptors. I don't have time to think about this right now. I have to get ready for a move.
>Neurosteroids can be useful, although I've had no luck with them myself. I tested pregnenolone (not allo-) a long time ago. I was also going to try DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), but it got stuck in customs.
-undopaminergic
poster:undopaminergic
thread:1122241
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20230117/msgs/1122249.html