When is an SSRI not an SSRI? Low dose SSRIs as Selective Brain Steroidogenic Stimulants (SBSSs) via Allopregnanolone modifying GABAa receptors and neonatal KCC2 expression
Today’s post might seem to have a very complicated tittle, but to regular readers it is really just another take on what we have seen time and time again. Today we see how another steroid imbalance in autism – low levels of allopregnenolone in this case – affects the neurotransmitter GABA and indeed the chloride transporter KCC2. Putting Prozac/Zoloft to a better use? I did report previously on a trial in adults with autism where pregnenolone was used. Brief report: an open-label study of the neurosteroid pregnenolone in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Pregnenolone - an effective OTC anti-inflammatory therapy for autism? Why Low Doses can work differently, or “Biphasic, U-shaped actions at the GABAa receptor” Recall that disturbed hormonal homeostasis is a key feature of autism. What matters is the level of each hormone inside the brain (i.e. centrally), not in your blood. The only way to get a reliable idea of what is going on would be to take a sample of spinal fluid. Today w...