Does Pregnenolone Enhance Exposure Therapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? – A Pilot, Interim Report of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Study

Abstract

Exposure therapy is an effective cognitive-behavioral treatment for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, a further amelioration of symptoms by additional drugs that enhance extinction learning is desirable. An interesting candidate is pregnenolone, which positively modulates NMDA and GABAA receptors in preclinical studies and influences amygdala and prefrontal activity in humans. We present pilot data showing high acceptance and good tolerability of pregnenolone given 2 h before exposure sessions in OCD patients. As per our interim analyses, exposure treatment resulted in significantly improved main outcome parameters, but no effects of pregnenolone vs. placebo pretreatment were detectable thus far.

New Research in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Major Depression

“…In addition to PANS/PANDAS, immunological treatments were also tested in "classical" OCD, that is to say, with no clearly identified etiological factor. NSAIDs show contrasting results [135,136,170] (Table 5). However, in the general context of OCD with no specific etiological factors, anti-inflammatory treatment seems to have a place in the treatment strategy, which could be more precisely defined if OCD etiologies were better known.…”

Individualized Immunological Data for Precise Classification of OCD Patients

“…NSAIDs show contrasting results [135,136,170] (Table 5). However, in the general context of OCD with no specific etiological factors, anti-inflammatory treatment seems to have a place in the treatment strategy, which could be more precisely defined if OCD etiologies were better known.…”