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1, Neurosteroids are very important for nerve conduction in the brain. The levels decrease as we age, and are lower in those with depression, high stress, and also brains with hypoxic injury. Wish the researchers would ask, why are neurosteroids low in an MS brain? And look at hippocampal atrophy in depression and MS. In any event, they're important....but are not a "cure."
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2, Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) may have impaired production of important neurosteroid molecules in their brains, so replacement therapy could be helpful, researchers said.

Autopsy findings from 16 MS patients showed high expression of micro-RNA molecules in white matter that suppress enzymes responsible for neurosteroid synthesis, particularly allopregnanolone, according to Christopher Power, MD, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and colleagues.

The researchers also confirmed that levels of allopregnanolone and other steroids were depressed in the MS patients' white matter, they reported online in Brain.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... geid/3232/

3, Neurosteroids include what are commonly thought of as the sex hormones. They garnered the name “neurosteroids” because instead of being produced by the gonads they are made de novo “in the brain, by the brain, for the brain” as one researcher said. So, it’s an interesting find that in the brains of people with MS there are lower levels of some of them. Research suggests they may provide powerful neuroprotection.

In the research here they found that allopregnanolone (and other neurosteroids) were lower in MS patient brains. Allopregnanolone is a metabolite of the hormone progesterone.

I sense that you have something of an interest in stem cells so you might be interested in this info:

Stem cells with neurogenic potential and steroid hormones] (full text available)

4, Although the initially identified actions of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone are related to sexual reproductive functions, recent evidence shows that these steroid hormones modulate development, physiology and survival of nerve cells.

Furthermore, neurosteroids can be synthesized in the developing and adult nervous system.

The main focus of this review is to summarize the described effects of steroid hormones (progesterone, allopregnanolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, estradiol and androgens) on cell parameters relevant to stem cells

steroid hormones influence stem cell behavior by several mechanisms

in some instances, these hormones can substitute or modulate the action of growth factors, and also directly influence self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation or cell death of neurogenic stem cells

5, also interesting....aging brains, Alzheimer's brains and brains with hypoxic injury are lower in neurosteroids.
The HPA axis appears to be disrupted, as it is in those with hippocampal atrophy and depression-
MS and cerebral hypoxia are noted to have hippocampal atrophy as well. Lots of connections....
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17928160

Quote:
The researchers also found a relationship between this atrophy and hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a complex set of interactions among three glands. The HPA axis is part of the neuroendocrine system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many physiological processes. It's thought that this dysregulation may play a role in the atrophy of the hippocampus and the development of depression.

"Depression is one of the most common symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis," Gold said. "It impacts cognitive function, quality of life, work performance and treatment compliance. Worst of all, it's also one of the strongest predictors of suicide."

The researchers examined three sub-regions of the hippocampus region ? CA1, CA3 and the dentate gyrus area of the hippocampal region called CA23DG (CA stands for cornu ammonis). They imaged 29 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and compared them with 20 healthy control subjects who did not have MS. They also measured participants' cortisol level three times a day; cortisol is a major stress hormone produced by the HPA axis that affects many tissues in the body, including the brain.
n addition to the difference between MS patients and healthy controls, the researchers found that the multiple sclerosis patients diagnosed with depression showed a smaller CA23DG sub-region of the hippocampus, along with excessive release of cortisol from the HPA axis.

"Interestingly, this idea of a link between excessive activity of the HPA axis and reduced brain volume in the hippocampus hasn't received a lot of attention, despite the fact that the most consistently reproduced findings in psychiatric patients with depression (but without MS) include hyperactivity of the HPA axis and smaller volumes of the hippocampus," Sicotte said.

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/br ... 61190.aspx
I wish the researchers would ask "why?"
Thanks for that well-researched post, Shayk!
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