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PubMed · 15491776

Not all progestins are the same: implications for usage.

Abstract

Recent clinical evidence showing unexpected side-effects of progestins used in contraception and hormone replacement therapy has highlighted the importance of choice of synthetic progestin. The molecular mechanisms of action of the relatively nonspecific and most widely used synthetic progestins, medroxyprogesterone acetate and norethisterone, are discussed in the context of this recent clinical evidence. Future directions involving a more mechanism-based approach for improved therapeutics, with greater specificity and fewer side-effects, are discussed.

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BibTeXRIS

Janet P Hapgood, Dominique Koubovec, Ann Louw, Donita Africander. 2004. Not all progestins are the same: implications for usage.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2004.09.005

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Mifepristone alters expression of endometrial steroid receptors and their cofactors in new users of medroxyprogesterone acetate.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of mifepristone on the expression of endometrial steroid receptors and their co-factors in depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) users. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Reproductive research center. PATIENT(S): Fifty healthy women with regular menstrual cycle. INTERVENTION(S): One hundred fifty milligrams of DMPA were given every 3 months. Two pills (25 mg each) of placebo or mifepristone were administered every 14 days during the DMPA therapy. Four endometrial biopsy specimens were obtained from each patient. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The expression of estrogen receptor subtypes alpha and beta (ERalpha and ERbeta), progesterone receptors A and B (PRAB and PRB), and androgen receptor messenger RNA and protein was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Steroid receptor coactivator 1 (SRC-1), silencing mediator for retinoid and thyroid-hormone receptors, and cell proliferation were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. RESULT(S): The expression of endometrial ERalpha, PRAB, PRB, and SRC-1 was increased significantly after 1 week of mifepristone, but the increase was no longer seen after 10 weeks. A positive correlation between endometrial ERalpha, PRAB, PRB, and SRC-1 production and proliferation was demonstrated. CONCLUSION(S): Short-term exposure of mifepristone in new starters of DMPA increases the expression of endometrial ERalpha, PRAB, PRB, and SRC-1 and promotes cell proliferation. Prolonged exposure to mifepristone does not alter the suppression of these receptors that are caused by DMPA and continues to result in endometrial atrophy.

Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic↗

Metabolic and clinical effects of progestogens.

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Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic↗