Recent reports show that, in patients treated with finasteride for male pattern hair loss, persistent side effects including sexual side effects, depression, anxiety and cognitive complaints may occur. We here explored the psychiatric and andrological features of patients affected by post-finasteride syndrome (PFS) and verified whether the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma levels of neuroactive steroids (i.e., important regulators of nervous function) are modified. We found that eight out of sixteen PFS male patients considered suffered from a DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition, all PFS patients showed erectile dysfunction (ED); in particular, ten patients showed a severe and six a mild-moderate ED. We also reported abnormal somatosensory evoked potentials of the pudendal nerve in PFS patients with severe ED, the first objective evidence of a neuropathy involving peripheral neurogenic control of erection. Testicular volume by ultrasonography was normal in PFS patients. Data obtained on neuroactive steroid levels also indicate interesting features. Indeed, decreased levels of pregnenolone, progesterone and its metabolite (i.e., dihydroprogesterone), dihydrotestosterone and 17beta-estradiol and increased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone and 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol were observed in CSF of PFS patients. Neuroactive steroid levels were also altered in plasma of PFS patients, however these changes did not reflect exactly what occurs in CSF. Finally, finasteride did not only affect, as expected, the levels of 5alpha-reduced metabolites of progesterone and testosterone, but also the further metabolites and precursors suggesting that this drug has broad consequence on neuroactive steroid levels of PFS patients.
The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology. 2017 Apr 10 [Epub ahead of print]
Roberto Cosimo Melcangi, Daniele Santi, Roberto Spezzano, Maria Grimoldi, Tommaso Tabacchi, Maria Letizia Fusco, Silvia Diviccaro, Silvia Giatti, Giuseppe Carrà , Donatella Caruso, Manuela Simoni, Guido Cavaletti
Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: ., Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy., Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy., Experimental Neurology Unit and Milan Center for Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy., Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Monza, Italy.