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Ulipristal Blocks Ovulation by Inhibiting Progesterone Receptor—Dependent Pathways Intrinsic to the Ovary

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Abstract

Ulipristal acetate (UPA), a progesterone receptor (PR) modulator, is used as an emergency contraceptive in women. Here, using a mouse model, we investigated the mechanism of action of UPA as an ovulation blocker. In mice, ovulation is induced ~12 hours following the treatment with exogenous gonadotropins, including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which mimics the action of luteinizing hormone (LH). When administered within 6 hours of hCG treatment, UPA is a potent blocker of ovulation. However, UPA’s effectiveness declined significantly when it was given at 8 hours post hCG. Our study revealed that, when administered within 6 hours of hCG, UPA blocks ovulation by inhibiting PR-dependent pathways intrinsic to the ovary. At 8 hours post hCG, when the PR signaling has already occurred, UPA is unable to block ovulation efficiently. Collectively, these results indicated that UPA, when administered within a critical time window following the LH surge, blocks PR-dependent pathways in the ovary to function as an effective antiovulatory contraceptive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, 61802, Urbana, IL, USA

    Shanmugasundaram Nallasamy MVSc, PhD & Indrani Bagchi PhD

  2. Department of Pathology & Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Jaeyeon Kim PhD

  3. Center for Biomedical Research, Population Council, New York, NY, USA

    Regine Sitruk-Ware MD

  4. Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Milan Bagchi PhD

Authors
  1. Shanmugasundaram Nallasamy MVSc, PhD
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  2. Jaeyeon Kim PhD
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  3. Regine Sitruk-Ware MD
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  4. Milan Bagchi PhD
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  5. Indrani Bagchi PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Indrani Bagchi PhD.

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Nallasamy, S., Kim, J., Sitruk-Ware, R. et al. Ulipristal Blocks Ovulation by Inhibiting Progesterone Receptor—Dependent Pathways Intrinsic to the Ovary. Reprod. Sci. 20, 371–381 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719112459239

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