Pregnenolone is a precursor to many critical steroid hormones in our bodies including:
- Progesterone
- DHEA
- Corticosteroids
- Estrogens
- Androgens (male hormones such as testosterone)
Pregnenolone as a supplement:
Pregnenolone can be valuable as an alternative treatment for improving memory and alertness, while reducing stress, depression and fatigue. Although the current research is inconclusive there are also claims that the hormone helps to prevent cancer, obesity, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, premenstrual syndrome and menopause. Pregnenolone levels decline more than 60% as we age. Chemically modified or synthetic pregnenolone supplements are taken to counteract some of the typical signs of aging and increase the levels of DHEA and other steroid hormones, including testosterone, in the body. High levels can cause adverse side effects such as aggression, irritability, insomnia, and the growth of body or facial hair in women. Pregnant women should not take pregnenolone.
Pregnenolone and congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)
High pregnenolone levels may be caused by an inherited condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). CAH causes a deficiency or dysfunction in the enzymes required to convert pregnenolone into steroid hormones. This can cause a deficiency of cortisol and an overabundance of male hormones or androgens. The pregnenolone test is often used in suspected cases of CAH for infants whose external sex organs are not clearly defined or for teens who do not develop secondary sexual characteristics or who has delayed puberty. If there is an enzyme deficiency in the steroid hormone process the levels of pregnenolone may be elevated. This can help to determine which enzyme is deficient or defective.
What is congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)?
CAH is a group of inherited disorders associated with deficiencies in the enzymes required for the production of the steroid hormones.
In congenital adrenal hyperplasia, one or more of the enzymes is deficient or dysfunctional and inadequate amounts of one or more final products are produced.
With CAH, the enzyme deficiency can cause a decrease in cortisol and/or aldosterone and, in some cases, an increase or decrease in androgens. Deficient androgens can cause male newborns to be born with external sex organs that are not clearly male or female (ambiguous genitalia) and can affect the development of secondary sexual characteristics of both males and females at puberty.
What are the causes of CAH?
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is caused by inherited defects in steroid biosynthesis. The resulting hormone imbalances can lead to life-threatening, salt-wasting crisis in the newborn period and incorrect gender assignment of virilized females.
What are the various Pregnenolone reference values?
CHILDREN
Males
- 0-6 years: not established
- 7-9 years: <206 ng/dL
- 10-12 years: <152 ng/dL
- 13-15 years: 18-197 ng/dL
- 16-17 years: 17-228 ng/dL
Tanner Stages
- Stage I: <157 ng/dL
- Stage II: <144 ng/dL
- Stage III: <215 ng/dL
- Stage IV-V: 19-201 ng/dL
Females
- 0-6 years: not established
- 7-9 years: <151 ng/dL
- 10-12 years: 19-220 ng/dL
- 13-15 years: 22-210 ng/dL
- 16-17 years: 22-229 ng/dL
Tanner Stages
- Stage I: <172 ng/dL
- Stage II: 22-229 ng/dL
- Stage III: 34-215 ng/dL
- Stage IV-V: 26-235 ng/dL
ADULTS
or =18 years: 33-248 ng/dL
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26433186
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25030803
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12918023
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8395958
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20070787
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20493557
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pcn.12150
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20493557
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3008321
What does it mean if your PREGNENOLONE, LC/MS result is too high?
Pregnenolone is used by the body in the production of all steroid hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, cortisol and testosterone. Pregnenolone is typically tested to aid in diagnosing a condition known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). CAH is a group of disorders in which the body is deficient in one or more of the enzymes required to produce steroid hormones.
Elevated levels of pregnenolone typically indicate that one or more of these enzymes is deficient.
Infants with CAH may show symptoms such as high blood pressure, extreme loss of fluids or sex organs which are not clearly defined.
Teens may experience delayed puberty, acne, oily skin and high blood pressure.
All Your Lab Results.
One Simple Dashboard.
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results Easily
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results
Import lab results from multiple providers, track changes over time, customize your reference ranges, and get clear explanations for each result. Everything is stored securely, exportable in one organized file, and shareable with your doctor—or anyone you choose.
Cancel or upgrade anytime
What does it mean if your PREGNENOLONE, LC/MS result is too low?
Pregnenolone levels naturally decrease as a person ages. A deficiency in pregnenolone can result in deficiency in other hormones. Symptoms can include decreased sex drive, depression, fatigue, impaired memory, loss of bone density and decreased muscle mass.
Laboratories
Bring All Your Lab Results Together — In One Place
We accept reports from any lab, so you can easily collect and organize all your health information in one secure spot.
Pricing Table
Gather Your Lab History — and Finally Make Sense of It
Finally, Your Lab Results Organized and Clear
Personal plans
$79/ year
Advanced Plan
Access your lab reports, explanations, and tracking tools.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 5 reports entered for you
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
$250/ once
Unlimited Account
Pay once, access everything—no monthly fees, no limits.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 10 reports entered for you
- No subscriptions. No extra fees.
$45/ month
Pro Monthly
Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track lab results for multiple clients
- Customize reference ranges per client
- Export lab histories and reports
- Begin with first report entered by us
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
About membership
What's included in a Healthmatters membership
Import Lab Results from Any Source
See Your Health Timeline
Understand What Your Results Mean
Visualize Your Results
Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Securely Share With Anyone You Trust
Let Your Lab Results Tell the Full Story
Once your results are in one place, see the bigger picture — track trends over time, compare data side by side, export your full history, and share securely with anyone you trust.
Bring all your results together to compare, track progress, export your history, and share securely.
What Healthmatters Members Are Saying
Frequently asked questions
Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.
- Individuals who want to track and understand their health over time.
- Health professionals, such as doctors, nutritionists, and wellness coaches, need to manage and interpret lab data for their clients.
With a Healthmatters account, you can:
- Upload lab reports from any lab
- View your data in interactive graphs, tables, and timelines
- Track trends and monitor changes over time
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export and share your full lab history
- Access your results anytime, from any device
Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 10000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
- The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Profile,
- GI-MAP,
- The NutrEval FMV®,
- The ION Profile,
- Amino Acids Profile,
- Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH),
- Organic Acids Test,
- Organix Comprehensive Profile,
- Toxic Metals,
- Complete Blood Count (CBC),
- Metabolic panel,
- Thyroid panel,
- Lipid Panel,
- Urinalysis,
- And many, many more.
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.