---
title: Does pregnanolone affect hormones differently in women with PMS vs without?
description: No. Pregnanolone changed progesterone levels in the same way in both groups, and women with PMS did not react differently from women without PMS.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/endocrine-response-to-pregnanolone-1999/
---

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- Does pregnanolone affect hormones differently in women with PMS vs without?

Case-control study, 1999

# Does pregnanolone affect hormones differently in women with PMS vs without?

No. Pregnanolone changed progesterone levels in the same way in both groups, and women with PMS did not react differently from women without PMS.

 Early or limited evidence

8 women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and 8 women without PMS.

## What they did

Researchers gave an intravenous dose of pregnanolone, and a separate inactive vehicle, to 8 women with PMS and 8 women without PMS, during the mid-follicular and late luteal phases of their cycles, then measured progesterone, estradiol, LH, FSH, and prolactin levels.

## What they found

Pregnanolone raised progesterone levels during the follicular phase but lowered progesterone during the luteal phase. It did not change estradiol, LH, FSH, or prolactin levels in either phase. There was no difference in these hormone responses between the PMS group and the control group.

## What it means for you

Moderate doses of pregnanolone don't seem to disrupt this part of the reproductive hormone system in women with or without PMS. But the study is very small, only 8 women per group, so the findings need confirming in larger studies.

8

Women with PMS

8

Women without PMS (controls)

## About the study

Original title Endocrine response to pregnanolone Authors Sundström I, Bäckström T Journal Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology Year 1999 Study design Case-control study What was tested Intravenous pregnanolone versus an inactive vehicle, given in the follicular and luteal cycle phases. Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/09513599909167579](https://doi.org/10.3109/09513599909167579)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Neurosteroids (allopregnanolone)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-neurosteroids/)[Pregnancy and postpartum](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-postpartum/)

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