Peptide contraception in women inhibition of ovulation by chronic intranasal lhrh agonist therapy

Bergquist C.; Nillius S. J.; Wide L.

Healthy female volunteers (71) used the LHRH superagonist D-Ser(TBU)6-EA10-L RH (buserelin) for contraception during 3-26 mo. One daily dose of 200-600 .mu.g was administered by the nasal route. No pregnancy occurred during the 628 treatment months. The bleeding pattern varied from fairly regular menstrual bleedings (n = 26) to oligomenorrhea (n = 27) and amenorrhea (n = 18). No severe or dysfunctional bleeding disturbances were observed. No signs of hyperplastic changes of the endometrium were found in 57 endometrial biopsies. After cessation of the long-term treatment normal ovulation and menstruation returned after 41.3 days, on average. Thus, intranasal administration of an LHRH agonist for inhibition of ovulation is a promising new contraceptive method for women.