Finasteride Treatment Inhibits Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Male Mice
Benedikt Römer, Natascha Pfeiffer, Sabina Lewicka, Nadia Benabdallah, Miriam Annika Vogt, Michael Deuschle, Barbara Vollmayr, Peter Gass
Pharmacopsychiatry2010
Summary (paraphrased)
Because 5-alpha-reductase also generates neurosteroids implicated in depression, the authors asked whether finasteride alters adult hippocampal neurogenesis in male mice. After 7 days of treatment, brain dihydrotestosterone fell and the number of newborn cells and young neurons in the hippocampus was significantly reduced; neurogenesis had recovered by 35 days after the last dose. The authors propose that structural effects on neural plasticity could contribute to depressive episodes reported with finasteride.
Why it’s in the corpus
Early demonstration that finasteride suppresses hippocampal neurogenesis via neurosteroid depletion — a foundational animal-mechanism paper for the corpus's neurosteroid/depression thread.
Related records
- Peer-reviewed paper
Is there a physiological role for the neurosteroid THDOC in stress-sensitive conditions?
Doodipala S. Reddy · Trends in Pharmacological Sciences
This review argues that THDOC (allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone), the adrenal-derived 5α-reduced metabolite of deoxycorticosterone, is a genuine physiological signal rather than a pharmacological curiosity. During acute stress, THDOC rises several-fold to…
MECH-0012003PSSDSystems review · Oct 2026 - Peer-reviewed paper
Neurosteroid, GABAergic and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis regulation: what is the current state of knowledge in humans?
Shannon K. Crowley; Susan S. Girdler · Psychopharmacology
Focused on human data, this review surveys how neurosteroids, GABAergic signaling, and the HPA axis regulate each other: allopregnanolone and allo-THDOC act as an allostatic brake that terminates stress-induced HPA activation, and chronic stress degrades this…
MECH-0102014Systems review · Oct 2026