3α-androstanediol 3α-androstanediol 3α-androstanediol also known as 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol and sometimes shortened in the literature to 3α-diol, is an endogenous steroid hormone and neurosteroid and a metabolite of androgens like dihydrotestosterone (dht). 3α-androstanediol names iupac name 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol systematic iupac name (1s,3as,3br,5as,7r,9as,9bs,11as)-9a,11a-dimethylhexadecahydro-1h-cyclopentaphenanthrene-1,7-diol other names hombreol identifiers cas number 1852-53-5 y 3d model (jsmol) interactive image chebi chebi:36713 chemspider 15039 echa infocard 100.015.862 pubchem cid 15818 unii j34mx0m30y y comptox dashboard (epa) dtxsid3022378 inchi inchi=1s/c19h32o2/c1-18-9-7-13(20)11-12(18)3-4-14-15-5-6-17(21)19(15,2)10-8-16(14)18/h12-17,20-21h,3-11h2,1-2h3/t12-,13+,14-,15-,16-,17-,18-,19-/m0/s1key: cbmyjhioyjebsb-khosgyarsa-ninchi=1/c19h32o2/c1-18-9-7-13(20)11-12(18)3-4-14-15-5-6-17(21)19(15,2)10-8-16(14)18/h12-17,20-21h,3-11h2,1-2h3/t12-,13+,14-,15-,16-,17-,18-,19-/m0/s1key: cbmyjhioyjebsb-khosgyarbm smiles c12cc3(cc4c(o)cc43c)1cc2o properties chemical formula c19h32o2 molar mass 292.463 g·mol−1 except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °c , 100 kpa). infobox references biological activity 3α-androstanediol is an inhibitory androstane neurosteroid and weak androgen and estrogen. as a neurosteroid, it acts as a potent positive allosteric modulator of the gabaa receptor, and has been found to have rewarding, anxiolytic, pro-sexual, and anticonvulsant effects. as androgens such as testosterone and dht are known to have many of the same effects as 3α-diol and are converted into it in vivo, it is thought that this compound may in part be responsible for said effects. relative to its isomer 3β-androstanediol, which is a potent estrogen, 3α-androstanediol has substantially lower, though still significant affinity for the estrogen receptors, with a several-fold preference for erβ over erα. it has approximately 0.07% and 0.3% of the affinity of estradiol at the erα and erβ, respectively. biochemistry testosterone metabolism in humans this diagram illustrates the metabolic pathways involved in the metabolism of dht in humans. in addition to the transformations shown in the diagram, conjugation (e.g., sulfation and glucuronidation) occurs with dht and metabolites that have one or more available hydroxyl (–oh) groups. 3α-androstanediol shows high affinity for sex hormone-binding globulin (shbg), similar to that of testosterone. chemistry