3β-Androstanediol, also known as 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol, and sometimes shortened in the literature to 3β-diol, is an endogenous steroid hormone and a metabolite of androgens like dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

[8] Through the ERβ, 3β-androstanediol positively regulates oxytocin neurons and signaling in the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus,[9][10] and has been found to have antidepressant,[11] anxiolytic,[12] cognitive-enhancing,[12] and stress-relieving effects via this action.

[13][14] Androgens, including testosterone and DHT, are known to downregulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and this has been found to be due in part or full to their conversion into 3β-androstanediol rather than to activation of the AR.

A determination of the circulating levels of 3β-androstanediol in humans found concentrations of 239 ± 76 pg/ml and 82 ± 45 pg/ml of the compound in normal male and female serum, respectively.

[16] 3β-Androstanediol shows high affinity for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), similar to that of DHT.