Pregnenolone is often called the master hormone because it can be converted to any other steroidal hormone, including DHEA, progesterone, the estrogens (estrone, estradiol, estriol) testosterone, the corticosteroids, and aldosterone. Their direct precursor to DHEA, it is thought to enhance DHEA's activity and can be taken together with it. Because pregnenolone is also the direct precursor to the progesterone pathway, it is thought to be more balancing than DHEA taken alone. Like DHEA, its levels in the body decline with age so it may need to be supplemented.