Before there were preds, there was pregnenolone.

[crowneagle]

The way the story goes, the pharmaceutical industry couldn't patent pregnenolone, because it was a natural substance. Their response to this little problem was to develop glucocorticoids.

Pregnenolone is called the mother hormone, because all your hormones are derived from it. It's kind of self-regulating. If you need more of one hormone, it'll produce that over others. Pregnenolone levels drop as we age. Levels may drop 60% by age 75, as compared to a healthy 30 year old. I don't think it's a coincidence that, as your pregnenolone levels drop, your risk of autoimmunity increases. Symptoms of deficiency include:

• Poor memory
• Declining concentration and attention
• Fatigue
• Dry skin
• Joint and muscle pain
• Decreased sex drive

What does pregnenolone have to do with Wegener's? I'm glad you asked. "Pregnenolone promotes ubiquitination and degradation of the TLR2/4 adaptor protein TIRAP and TLR2 in macrophages and microglial cells. Pregnenolone and its metabolites suppressed the secretion of tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-6 mediated through TLR2 and TLR4 signaling." TLR2 is involved in the pathogenesis of WG. "TLR2 signaling is involved in the development of a Th17-driven immune response, consistent with skewing towards a Th17 T cell phenotype that has been observed in Wegener's Granulomatosis." TLR's, aka Toll Like Receptors, are part of your innate immune system. Everything starts from there.

What does pregnenolone mean to me? Due to genetic factors, cyclophosphamide, Cellcept and Imuran have been failures for me. Long story short. They tried killing my mitochondria. Last time I heard, you cannot live without your mitochondria. They're the little cellular engines that make you go. As I speak, I am building up a resistance to Rituximab, which I will explain further in a future post. I'm currently taking 10mg of pregnenolone as a cornerstone of my current treatment plan and have responded favorably. I have severe cns involvement. Pregnenolone senses this and favors its metabolic derivative allopregnenolone in my brain. "In addition to brain and classical steroidogenic tissues, lymphocytes have also been reported to synthesize pregnenolone, which induced immunosuppression."



DISCLAIMER:
Always talk to your doctor, before taking any substance. In this case, it's especially true, because hormones can be a tricky thing. Pregnenolone isn't some magic bullet. It's a small piece of a complicated puzzle. Above all, pregnenolone is a neurosteroid. Do your due diligence before considering it.


_{The neurosteroid pregnenolone promotes degradation of key proteins in the innate immune signaling to suppress inflammation}

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6433066/

[andrew]

Thanks for this. You've given me some more reading to do