Allopregnanolone attenuates kainate-induced toxicity in primary cortical neurons and PC12 neuronal cells

In this study, we demonstrated that allopregnanolone at 500 and 1000 nM significantly inhibited kainate-induced lactate dehydrogenase release from primary cortical cells by ca. 25 and 50%, respectively. Furthermore, allopregnanolone doses of 100 and 500 nM decreased cytotoxic effects of kainate (150 microM, 24-hour exposure) in PC12 neuronal cells by about 55 and 37%, respectively. These data strongly support neuroprotective effects of allopregnanolone observed in vivo.