Objective: To investigate in healthy eumenorrheic young women whether an oral contraceptive (OC) containing drospirenone (DRSP) (3 mg) + ethinyl estradiol (EE) (30 microg) (DRSP + EE) could modify psychological symptoms and whether it could modify steroids interfering with the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A receptors.

Design: Clinical study of treated subjects and nontreated controls.

Setting: Healthy volunteers in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cagliari University.

Patient(s): Control group (n = 12) and OC group (n = 10) women with similar age, body mass index, and main outcome measures.

Intervention(s): The control group was studied during the first menstrual cycle at the follicular phase (FP) and at the luteal phase (LP) and during the third cycle at the LP; the OC group was studied during the first cycle, as described above, and on day 16-18 of the third cycle of treatment with DRSP + EE.

Main outcome measure(s): Psychometric scale (SCL-90), DHEAS, P, allopregnanolone (AP), and allotetrahydrodeoxy-corticosterone (THDOC).

Result(s): SCL-90 and DHEAS did not vary throughout the menstrual cycle. P, AP, and THDOC values were higher during the LP than the FP. At the third cycle, in the control group the main outcome measures were similar to those at LP. In the OC group, the SCL-90 global score, the intensity of anxiety and phobic anxiety, the levels of anxiolytic steroids (P, AP, THDOC) and the anxiety-inducing steroid DHEAS were reduced.

Conclusion(s): The results suggest beneficial effects of DRSP + EE on psychological symptoms by decreasing DHEAS.