Effects of the Oral Contraceptive Combination 0.150 mg Desogestrel Plus 0.020 mg Ethinylestradiol on Carbohydrate Metabolism in Healthy Female Volunteers

Abstract

An open study on the effects of the oral contraceptive combination 0.150 mg desogestrel plus 0.020 mg ethinylestradiol on carbohydrate metabolism was carried out in healthy female volunteers. The study covered 6 cycles: a pretreatment cycle was followed by 3 treatment cycles, which in turn were followed by 2 post‐treatment cycles. Each treatment cycle consisted of 21 days of tablet administration, followed by a 7‐day tablet‐free period. This very low estrogen‐dose oral contraceptive combination induced a slightly, but statistically significantly, impaired glucose tolerance and a statistically significantly increased insulin response in an oral glucose loading test. These effects are comparable to those reported for other low‐dose oral contraceptives. Whereas treatment induced a slight but statistically significant increase in fasting plasma C‐peptide levels, it had no effect on fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels or on the amount of glycosylated proteins. The importance of these findings is discussed. It is concluded that further investigations are needed to determine whether the slight alterations in carbohydrate tolerance (the values always remained within normal ranges) are of clinical significance.