E-DRUG: Norgestrel in contraceptive pills (cont'd)

[Marcel Reyners <reynersm@dts.mg>]

E-drug: Norgestrel in contraceptive pills (cont'd)
---------------------------------------------

Dear E-druggers,

I do appreciate your reactions. Meanwhile I found interesting
information in Hatchers' Contraceptive Technology, 14th revised edition.
I quote: "When the racemate norgestrel, containing equal amounts of
the dextro and levo forms, is given to a woman, ... both isomers are
absorbed into the gastro-intestinal tract, transported via the hepatic
circulation to the liver where enzyme induction is initiated, and then
transformed primarily into glucuronides and sulfates to be excreted via
the gut and the kidneys. ALL OF THIS REQUIRES METABOLIC WORK
(capitals by me). There is no evidence that any disease or abnormal
state is caused by the extra metabolic work required to break down
the inactive isomer etc".

This answers most of my questions. And apparently, the racemate costs
four times less than the pure levonorgestrel containing products. But
this raises another question: why did the Population Council (and
Leiras) introduce  Norplant, with only levonorgestrel, at a cost (almost
USD 25 for 6 rods) which constitutes a financial barrier for large scale
use in developing countries. The price of the - inoffensive - racemate
could be reduced to less than USD 2 for each year of use... 

Again, thank you all for your kind help.

Best regards,

Marcel Reyners,
BP 447
ANTANANARIVO
MADAGASCAR
email: reynersm@dts.mg
 
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to:  `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.