Progestins and medical treatment of endometriosis - Physiology, history and society

Steroid Hormones

“…The development of new generations of progestins with improved selectivity profiles has been a great challenge [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78].…”

Overcoming endometriosis-associated preimplantation embryo developmental anomalies by culture

“…The most common treatments for endometriosis involve the down regulation of sex hormones, anti-inflammatory medications and/or surgery [Belaisch 2009;Macer and Taylor 2012]. The hormonal treatments include gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogs, female contraception, and progestin capsules [Belaisch 2009;Macer and Taylor 2012]. Aromatase inhibitors are another potential treatment of this disease that have yet to be approved for human use [Langoi et al 2013].…”

“…For example, continued administration of progesterone negatively feeds back on the anterior pituitary, reducing the production of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), concomitantly reducing ovarian estrogen production. These same treatments typically lead to the cessation of menses, reducing the presence of necrotic menstrual tissue in the peritoneal cavity due to a simultaneous reduction in retrograde menstruation [Belaisch 2009;Macer and Taylor 2012;Langoi 2013].…”

“…Further, treatments come at the cost of negative side-effects, varying from patient to patient. For example, many current treatments lead to sterility due to the disruption of sex steroid production and subsequent deregulation of folliculogenesis, ovulation, and/or pituitary hormone release [Belaisch 2009]. Dependent upon the severity of the disease, a physician's recommendation may range from lesion excision using a laparoscopic approach to a hysterectomy, followed by combination drug therapy [Belaisch 2009].…”