Contraception through the use of intrauterine metals. I. Copper as an adjunct to the “T” device

Release of copper and indomethacin from intrauterine devices immersed in simulated uterine fluid

“…Whereas the menstrual blood loss (MBL) of women fitted with a non-medicated Cu-IUD increases by approximately 19 ml, that of women wearing an indomethacin-releasing Cu-IUD is reduced by about 6 ml 3 . These medicated Cu-IUDs also appear to be associated with less adverse symptoms and a lower removal rate [4][5][6] . Moreover, the release of indomethacin from medicated Cu-IUDs could change the pH of the medium surrounding them 7 , and thus affect the release rate of copper 8,9 .…”

SERUM LEVELS OF COPPER, CAERULOPLASMIN AND CAERULOPLASMIN OXIDASE ACTIVlTY IN WOMEN USING COPPER‐CONTAINING INTRAUTERINE DEVICES AND IN WOMEN TAKING COMBINED ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES

“…There was, however, a statistically significant difference between the women using IUDs and those women taking the oral contraceptive preparations in whom these parameters were elevated. WITH the discovery by Zipper et al (1968) that copper wire placed in the uterus of a rabbit prevented implantation of the blastocyst, the concept of pharmacologically active IUDs was subsequently developed (Zipper et al, 1969a(Zipper et al, , 1969b(Zipper et al, , 1971. Copper is now incorporated into a number of IUDs and clinical evaluations of them have been made (Medel et al, 1970;Bernstein et al, 1972;Hagenfeldt, 1972;Oster, 1972).…”

Effect of copper and platinum intrauterine devices on endometrial morphology and implantation in the rabbit

“…The effect of the device on human endometrial morphology has not yet been studied on a large scale. Such reports as have appeared (Zipper, Tatum, Medel, Pastene & Rivera, 1971 ;Hagenfeldt et al, 1972;Salaverry, Méndez, Del, Zipper & Medel, 1973) have been based on endometrial biopsies and do not indicate, in most patients, the gross pathology we have observed in rabbits, although leucocytic infiltration is usually present. Although the data are not strictly comparable, there is some evidence that copper is corroded faster by the rabbit uterus (Tobert, 1974) than by the monkey (Moo-Young & Tatum, 1974) or human uterus (Hagenfeldt, 1972).…”