Progestogen Preparations Research Articles

THE EFFECT OF ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES ON MIGRAINE

Migraine and vascular-type headaches have often been associated with combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptive use. 20 women with complaints of headache 25 of whom had a history of migraine prior to oral contraceptive use were studied for onset and variations of migraine attack during the menstrual cycle while receiving a variety of combined oral contraceptive formulations. Generally migraine attacks were more severe under the oral contraceptive regimen and attacks seemed more frequent between cycles and during the first few days of the resumed regimen. Formulations with a low proportion of progestogen reduced the severity of and sometimes abolished the headaches. Intervals between attacks were usually longer with the lowered progestogen content. It is concluded that exogenous progestogen preparations will stimulate migraine in patients with a constitutional predisposition towards vascular-type headache and that withdrawal from the drug is the stimulus for the migraine attack.

AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EXTRACTION AND PURIFICATION OF RELAXIN FROM FRESH WHOLE OVARIES OF THE SOW1

RELAXIN, a water-soluble, physiologically active substance of the ovary has been prepared in partly purified form by two different methods. Fevold, Hisaw, and Meyer (1932) extracted fresh sow corpora lutea with acid alcohol and worked up the active material by solution in and precipitation from organic solvents. The activity of the final product, prepared as an iso-electric precipitate at pH 5.4, was 30 units per mg. Using semi-dried, defatted luteal tissue obtained as a by-product from a commercial procedure for the preparation of progestin, Albert, Money, and Zarrow (1946) prepared relaxin with approximately the same order of activity by differential solubility in water, ammonium sulfate solutions and cold dilute alcohol.

RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGESTIN IN HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED AND NORMAL RABBITS*

Two reports on the subject of progestin-effectiveness in hypophysectomized rabbits have appeared recently. Asdell and Seidenstein1 using unstandardized preparations of progestin, obtained endometrial proliferation in 4 hypophysectomized rabbits, as did Robson2in 6 rabbits when he used sufficient quantities of a standardized preparation of progestin. In addition to this, however, Robson also found that smaller quantities of progestin were not effective in hypophysectomized rabbits even though the amount administered was adequate to produce endometrial proliferation in normal rabbits. In this respect, Robson confirmed the initial observations of two of us (Reynolds and Firor).3 Similar results were obtained in the hypophysectomized ferret by Parkes personal communication). On the contrary, Smith is able to elicit a marked degree of endometrial proliferation with adequate amounts of progestin administered to hypophysectomized ferrets (personal communication). It appears from the foregoing consideration, ther...

Oestrin and Progestin Content of the Corpus Luteum of the Sow

The oestrin and progestin content of the corpus luteum of the sow was determined at various stages of development. Ovaries were obtained fresh from the abattoir and separated into the following groups: 1, early corpora lutea up to about the sixth or seventh day from the time of rupture of the Graafian follicle; 2, fully formed corpora lutea representing the various stages of early and middle pregnancy; 3, degenerating corpora lutea, and 4, corpora albicans. This separation does not take into account the correlation of the development of the egg and embryo, since the large amounts of ovaries were primarily for the preparation of progestin. However this macroscopic separation demonstrated that there is variation in the level of progestin which has physiological significance. Due care was taken in the dissection of each batch of corpora lutea that follicular fluid was not a contaminant.Progestin and oestrin were prepared and separated according to the method of Allen.1 The progestin content was determined ac...