Antiprogestogens, or antiprogestins, also known as progesterone antagonists or progesterone blockers, are a class of drugs which prevent progestogens like progesterone from mediating their

biological effect In evolutionary biology, function is the reason some object or process occurred in a system that evolved through natural selection. That reason is typically that it achieves some result, such as that chlorophyll helps to capture the energy of sunl ...

s in the body. They act by blocking the progesterone receptor (PR) and/or inhibiting or suppressing progestogen

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

. Antiprogestogens are one of three types of sex hormone antagonists, the others being

antiestrogen Antiestrogens, also known as estrogen antagonists or estrogen blockers, are a class of drugs which prevent estrogens like estradiol from mediating their biological effects in the body. They act by blocking the estrogen receptor (ER) and/or ...

s and

antiandrogen Antiandrogens, also known as androgen antagonists or testosterone blockers, are a class of drugs that prevent androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from mediating their biological effects in the body. They act by blocking the ...

s. Antiprogestogens are used as abortifacients and emergency contraceptives and in the treatment of

uterine fibroid Uterine fibroids, also known as uterine leiomyomas or fibroids, are benign smooth muscle tumors of the uterus. Most women with fibroids have no symptoms while others may have painful or heavy periods. If large enough, they may push on the bl ...

s. They are also being studied in the treatment of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

. Examples of antiprogestogens include the progesterone receptor weak

partial agonist In pharmacology, partial agonists are drugs that bind to and activate a given receptor, but have only partial efficacy at the receptor relative to a full agonist. They may also be considered ligands which display both agonistic and antagonis ...

mifepristone Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days of ...

, the

selective progesterone receptor modulator A selective progesterone receptor modulator (SPRM) is an agent that acts on the progesterone receptor (PR), the biological target of progestogens like progesterone. A characteristic that distinguishes such substances from full receptor agonists (e ...

(SPRM)

ulipristal acetate Ulipristal acetate, sold under the brand name Ella among others, is a medication used for emergency contraception (birth control) and uterine fibroids. As emergency contraception it should be used within 120 hours of vaginally penetrating inte ...

, and the

silent antagonist A receptor antagonist is a type of receptor ligand or drug that blocks or dampens a biological response by binding to and blocking a receptor rather than activating it like an agonist. Antagonist drugs interfere in the natural operation of recep ...

aglepristone Aglepristone () (brand name Alizin; former developmental code names RU-46534, RU-534) is a synthetic, steroidal antiprogestogen related to mifepristone which is marketed by Virbac in several European countries for use in veterinary medicine. It i ...

. For

medical abortion A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions such as vacuum aspiration or dilation and curettage. Medical ...

, mifepristone is combined with a prostaglandin (e.g.,

gemeprost Gemeprost (16, 16-dimethyl-trans-delta2 PGE1 methyl ester) is an analogue of prostaglandin E1. Clinical use It is used as a treatment for obstetric bleeding. It is used with mifepristone to terminate pregnancy up to 24 weeks gestation. Side ...

). Several hundred antiprogestogens have been developed, but only three,

lilopristone Lilopristone ( INN) (developmental code names ZK-98734, ZK-734) is a synthetic, steroidal antiprogestogen with additional antiglucocorticoid activity which was developed by Schering and was patented in 1985. It is described as an abortifacient a ...

, and

onapristone Onapristone () (developmental code names ZK-89299, ZK-299) is a synthetic and steroidal antiprogestogen with additional antiglucocorticoid activity which was developed by Schering in and described in 1984 but was never marketed. in in It is a ...

, have been given to humans, and of these, only mifepristone has been approved and introduced for clinical use.

References

External links

*
Antiprogestin
entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms {{genito-urinary-drug-stub

See also

References

External links