Pregnenolone
Hormone ·Exploratory record · not publication-reviewed ·Updated July 13, 2026
Precursor to all steroid hormones, the starting point of the steroidogenic pathway.
Exploratory record, not a reviewed medical publication.
See the editorial and medical-review policies for the publication gate.
This generated database record has not completed a claim-level review by a qualified human medical reviewer. Bibliography links and evidence labels are not approval. The page remains available for reference and is excluded from search indexing.
What the research says.
A quick, data-only summary. The full evidence, dosing, and sources are below.
Pregnenolone is a hormone most often used for hormonal balance, cognitive function, mood. NutriStack rates the overall evidence as emerging. A typical adult dose is 10-50 mg daily, commonly taken as micronized pregnenolone. This profile indexes 19 sources.
The bottom line
Evidence rating emerging. Most-documented uses: hormonal balance, cognitive function, mood. 19 sources indexed (1979–2025), with 0 interaction records on file.
How it works, mechanistically.
Core mechanism
Synthesized from cholesterol via CYP11A1. Converted to progesterone, DHEA, cortisol, testosterone, and estrogen through branching enzymatic pathways. Neurosteroid with direct GABA and NMDA effects.17
Dosing & protocol.
Take in the morning with food
What it actually costs.
Real-world pricing across three quality tiers. Assumes Micronized Pregnenolone.
Assumes 10-50 mg/day. Vendor basis: Life Extension, iHerb, Vitacost, and Amazon marketplace; pricing is low but use should be clinician-guided. Updated 2026-05-28.
The same dose, as food.
How much you'd eat to match a supplemental dose.
Pregnenolone is an endogenous steroid hormone made from cholesterol; foods do not provide supplemental pregnenolone doses.
Full safety detail.
Side effects
- Drowsiness
- Irritability
- Acne
- Headache
- Hormone conversion effects such as acne, mood changes, androgenic symptoms, or progestogenic symptoms
Sources, by evidence tier.
Numbered references. Citations throughout the page link here.
Randomized controlled trials
11- 1Effect of Pregnenolone vs Placebo on Self-reported Chronic Low Back Pain Among US Military Veterans: A Randomized Clinical TrialPMIDNaylor JC et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · 2020
Pregnenolone (escalating to 500 mg/day) produced clinically meaningful reductions in chronic low back pain and pain interference vs placebo; well tolerated.
- 2Does Pregnenolone Adjunct to Risperidone Ameliorate Irritable Behavior in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial?PMIDAyatollahi A, Bagheri S, Ashraf-Ganjouei A, Moradi K, Mohammadi MR, Akhondzadeh S · Clinical Neuropharmacology · 2020
Pregnenolone as an adjunct to risperidone significantly improved irritability scores in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder compared to risperidone plus placebo.
- 3Add-On Pregnenolone with L-Theanine to Antipsychotic Therapy Relieves Negative and Anxiety Symptoms of Schizophrenia: An 8-Week, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled TrialPMIDKardashev A, Ratner Y, Ritsner MS · Clinical schizophrenia & related psychoses · 2018
Kardashev A, Ratner Y, Ritsner MS. Add-On Pregnenolone with L-Theanine to Antipsychotic Therapy Relieves Negative and Anxiety Symptoms of Schizophrenia: An 8-Week, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Clinical schizophrenia & related psychoses. 2018
- 4Pregnenolone as an adjunct to risperidone for treatment of women with schizophrenia: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trialPMIDKashani L, Shams N, Moazen-Zadeh E et al. · Journal of psychiatric research · 2017
Kashani L, Shams N, Moazen-Zadeh E et al.. Pregnenolone as an adjunct to risperidone for treatment of women with schizophrenia: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Journal of psychiatric research. 2017
- 5Does Pregnenolone Enhance Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? - A Pilot, Interim Report of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind StudyPMIDKellner M, Nowack S, Wortmann V et al. · Pharmacopsychiatry · 2016
Kellner M, Nowack S, Wortmann V et al.. Does Pregnenolone Enhance Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? - A Pilot, Interim Report of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2016
- 6Proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial of pregnenolone in schizophreniaPMIDMarx CE et al. · Psychopharmacology · 2014
Pregnenolone improved functional capacity in schizophrenia participants; fivefold elevations in allopregnanolone (GABAergic metabolite) may play role in efficacy.
- 7Pregnenolone treatment reduces severity of negative symptoms in recent-onset schizophrenia: an 8-week, double-blind, randomized add-on two-center trialPMIDRitsner MS et al. · Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · 2014
Add-on pregnenolone significantly reduced severity of negative symptoms compared to placebo in recent-onset schizophrenia patients.
- 8A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregnenolone for bipolar depressionPMIDBrown ES, Park J, Marx CE et al. · Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2014
Brown ES, Park J, Marx CE et al.. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregnenolone for bipolar depression. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2014
- 9Pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone as precursors for cognitive enhancementSource linkedPMIDMarx CE, Bradford DW, Hamer RM et al. · Biol Psychiatry · 2011
- 10Pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: an 8-week, double-blind, randomized, controlled, 2-center, parallel-group trialPMIDRitsner MS, Gibel A, Shleifer T et al. · The Journal of clinical psychiatry · 2010
Ritsner MS, Gibel A, Shleifer T et al.. Pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: an 8-week, double-blind, randomized, controlled, 2-center, parallel-group trial. The Journal of clinical psychiatry. 2010
- 11Proof-of-concept trial with the neurosteroid pregnenolone targeting cognitive and negative symptoms in schizophreniaPMIDMarx CE et al. · Neuropsychopharmacology · 2009
Pregnenolone (up to 500 mg/day) improved verbal memory and Tower of London scores with z-score improvements 0.61 greater than placebo.
Reviews & position papers
5- 12Pregnenolone effects on parasympathetic response to stress and alcohol cue provocation in treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorderPMIDGao H, Sinha R, Wemm S et al. · Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025
Gao H, Sinha R, Wemm S et al.. Pregnenolone effects on parasympathetic response to stress and alcohol cue provocation in treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder. Alcohol, clinical & experimental research. 2025
- 13Stability and Reliability of Repeated Plasma Pregnenolone Levels After Oral Pregnenolone Dosing in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder: Pilot FindingsPMIDGao H, Magin Z, Fogelman N et al. · Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
Gao H, Magin Z, Fogelman N et al.. Stability and Reliability of Repeated Plasma Pregnenolone Levels After Oral Pregnenolone Dosing in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder: Pilot Findings. Life (Basel, Switzerland). 2024
- 14Neurosteroids and potential therapeutics: Focus on pregnenolonePMIDMarx CE et al. · Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · 2016
Pregnenolone is the precursor to all steroid hormones, has direct GABA and NMDA receptor effects as a neurosteroid, and shows therapeutic potential for multiple CNS conditions.
- 15Pregnenolone as a novel therapeutic candidate in schizophrenia: emerging preclinical and clinical evidencePMIDMarx CE et al. · Neuroscience · 2011
Pregnenolone positively modulates NMDA receptors and elevates downstream neurosteroids including neuroprotective allopregnanolone; addresses hypothesized NMDA hypofunction.
- 16Protective effect of pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile on acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in hamstersPMIDMadhu C, Klaassen CD · Toxicology and applied pharmacology · 1991
Madhu C, Klaassen CD. Protective effect of pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile on acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in hamsters. Toxicology and applied pharmacology. 1991
Observational studies
1- 17Association of Endogenous Pregnenolone, Progesterone, and Related Metabolites with Risk of Endometrial and Ovarian Cancers in Postmenopausal Women: The B-FIT CohortPMIDTrabert B et al. · Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention · 2021
Cohort biomarker evidence supports clinician-guided use in postmenopausal gynecologic cancer risk contexts.
Mechanistic & preclinical
2- 18Pregnenolone stimulates LNCaP prostate cancer cell growth via the mutated androgen receptorPMIDGrigoryev DN, Long BJ, Njar VC, Brodie AH · Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · 2000
In vitro prostate cancer data support avoiding unsupervised pregnenolone in prostate cancer risk contexts.
- 19Metabolism of pregnenolone by human breast cancer. Evidence for 17 alpha-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyasePMIDAbul-Hajj YJ, Iverson R, Kiang DT · Steroids · 1979
Human breast cancer tissue metabolism data support caution with pregnenolone in breast cancer contexts.
Common questions.
Quick answers about Pregnenolone, drawn from the data on this page.
What is Pregnenolone?
Precursor to all steroid hormones, the starting point of the steroidogenic pathway.
What is Pregnenolone used for?
Commonly cited benefits of Pregnenolone include: Hormonal balance; Cognitive function; Mood; Memory. NutriStack rates the overall evidence as emerging.
What is a typical dose of Pregnenolone?
A typical adult dose of Pregnenolone is 10-50 mg daily. The commonly recommended form is Micronized pregnenolone. These are general ranges, not personalized advice; confirm the right dose with a clinician.
What are the side effects of Pregnenolone?
Reported side effects include drowsiness, irritability, acne, headache, hormone conversion effects such as acne, mood changes, androgenic symptoms, or progestogenic symptoms. This is educational information; check with a healthcare professional before use.
How strong is the evidence for Pregnenolone?
NutriStack rates this as Emerging, meaning early RCT signal, mechanistic data, or limited human evidence. Full tier criteria are at https://nutristackapp.com/methodology/evidence-tiers.
Use this with your stack
Pregnenolone in NutriStack.
Add it to your stack, see how it interacts with everything else you take, and get a Stack Score that updates the moment it does.