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. 2023 Mar 2;14:1140796. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1140796

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Copyright © 2023 Gao, Sun, Wang, Li, Zhao, Geng, Xu, Chen, Liu, Xing, Liu and Wei.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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The metabolism process of the precursor cholesterol to allopregnanolone. Cholesterol is transported to the inner mitochondrial membrane through the 18-kDa transport protein TSPO, and then through the cytochrome P450 cholesterol side-chain lyase P450 (P450scc) to produce pregnenolone. Progesterone is produced from pregnenolone by 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) metabolism, and then the metabolized products are gradually reduced by 5α-reductase and 3α-HSD (25). Allo is synthesized in brain (such as hippocampus), adrenal gland and gonad (24, 27).