Quingestanol acetate, sold under the brand names Demovis and Pilomin among others, is a progestin medication which was used in

birth control pill The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progesti ...

s but is no longer marketed. It is taken

by mouth Oral administration is a route of administration where a substance is taken through the mouth. Per os abbreviated to P.O. is sometimes used as a direction for medication to be taken orally. Many medications are taken orally because they are i ...

. Quingestanol acetate is a progestin, or a synthetic progestogen, and hence is an agonist of the progesterone receptor, the

biological target A biological target is anything within a living organism to which some other entity (like an endogenous ligand or a drug) is directed and/or binds, resulting in a change in its behavior or function. Examples of common classes of biological targets ...

of progestogens like progesterone. It has weak

androgen An androgen (from Greek ''andr-'', the stem of the word meaning "man") is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors. This in ...

ic and

estrogen Estrogen or oestrogen is a category of sex hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and secondary sex characteristics. There are three major endogenous estrogens that have estrogenic hormonal ac ...

ic activity and no other important

hormonal A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required f ...

activity. The medication is a prodrug of norethisterone in the body, with quingestanol and

norethisterone acetate Norethisterone acetate (NETA), also known as norethindrone acetate and sold under the brand name Primolut-Nor among others, is a progestin medication which is used in birth control pills, menopausal hormone therapy, and for the treatment of gyn ...

occurring as intermediates. Quingestanol acetate was

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ed in 1963 and was introduced for medical use in 1972. It was marketed in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Medical uses

Quingestanol acetate was used as an oral, once-a-month, or postcoital hormonal contraceptive.

Side effects

Pharmacology

Quingestanol acetate is a progestogen, and also has weak

ic and

ic activity. It is a prodrug of norethisterone, with both quingestanol and

serving as intermediates in the transformation. Unlike

penmesterol Penmesterol () (brand names Pandrocine, Testopan; former developmental code name RP-12222), or penmestrol, also known as 17α-methyltestosterone 3-cyclopentyl enol ether, is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) that was d ...

( methyltestosterone 3-cyclopentyl enol ether) and

quinestrol Quinestrol, also known as ethinylestradiol cyclopentyl ether (EECPE), sold under the brand name Estrovis among others, is an estrogen medication which has been used in menopausal hormone therapy, hormonal birth control, and to treat breast cancer ...

(

ethinylestradiol Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. In the past, EE was widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological disord ...

3-cyclopentyl ether), quingestanol acetate is not stored in

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

and does not have a prolonged duration of action.

Chemistry

Quingestanol acetate, also known as norethisterone 17β-acetate 3-cyclopentyl enol ether or as 17α-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone 17β-acetate 3-cyclopentyl enol ether (ENTACP), as well as 3-(cyclopentyloxy)-17α-ethynylestra-3,5-dien-17β-yl acetate, is a synthetic estrane steroid and a

derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. ...

testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristi ...

. It is specifically a derivative of 19-nortestosterone and 17α-ethynyltestosterone, or of norethisterone (17α-ethynyl-19-nortestosterone), in which a cyclopentyl enol ether

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

has been attached at the C3 position and an acetate

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides a ...

has been attached at the C17β position. Quingestanol acetate is the C17β acetate

of quingestanol (norethisterone 3-cyclopentyl enol ether).

History

Quingestanol acetate was patented in 1963 and marketed in

in 1972.

Society and culture

Generic names

''Quingestanol acetate'' is the generic name of the drug and its and .

Brand names

Quingestanol acetate was marketed under the brand names Demovis, Pilomin, Riglovis, and Unovis.

References

{{Navboxes , title =

Pharmacodynamics Pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of the biochemical and physiologic effects of drugs (especially pharmaceutical drugs). The effects can include those manifested within animals (including humans), microorganisms, or combinations of organisms ...

, titlestyle = background:#ccccff , list1 = {{Androgen receptor modulators {{Estrogen receptor modulators {{Progesterone receptor modulators Abandoned drugs Acetate esters Ethynyl compounds Androgens and anabolic steroids Cyclopentyl ethers Dienes Estranes Ethers Hormonal contraception Prodrugs Progestogen esters Progestogen ethers Progestogens Synthetic estrogens