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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jul 19.
Published in final edited form as: Prog Brain Res. 2010;186:113–137. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53630-3.00008-7

Figure 1. Biosynthetic pathways of neurosteroids in the human brain and their impact on brain function.

Figure 1

5α-Reductase converts progesterone, testosterone and deoxycorticosterone into 5α-dihydro reduced steroids, which are then reduced further to 3α-hydroxylated neurosteroids by 3α-HSOR. Testosterone is converted into 17β-estradiol by the aromatase enzyme. These and related enzymes involved in neurosteroid biosynthesis and metabolism are present in the human brain.