Gestonorone caproate

Gestonorone caproate, also known as gestronol hexanoate or norhydroxyprogesterone caproate and sold under the brand names Depostat and Primostat, is a progestin medication which is used in the treatment of enlarged prostate and cancer of the endometrium. It is given by injection into muscle typically once a week. Gestonorone caproate, also known as gestronol hexanoate or norhydroxyprogesterone caproate and sold under the brand names Depostat and Primostat, is a progestin medication which is used in the treatment of enlarged prostate and cancer of the endometrium. It is given by injection into muscle typically once a week. Side effects of gestonorone caproate include worsened glucose tolerance, decreased libido in men, and injection site reactions. Gestonorone caproate is a progestin, or a synthetic progestogen, and hence is an agonist of the progesterone receptor, the biological target of progestogens like progesterone. It has no other important hormonal activity. Gestonorone caproate was discovered in 1960 and was introduced for medical use by 1973. It has been used widely throughout Europe, including in the United Kingdom, and has also been marketed in certain other countries such as Japan, China, and Mexico. However, it has since mostly been discontinued, and it remains available today only in a handful of countries, including the Czech Republic, Japan, Mexico, and Russia. Gestonorone caproate is used in the palliative treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy and endometrial cancer. It is used at a dose of 100 to 200 mg once a week by intramuscular injection. Side effects of gestonorone caproate have been reported to include worsened glucose tolerance, decreased libido in men, and local injection site reactions such as irritation. Gestonorone caproate is a potent, long-acting, and pure progestogen, possessing no androgenic, anabolic, antiandrogenic, estrogenic, antiestrogenic, glucocorticoid, mineralocorticoid, or teratogenic effects. It is approximately 20 to 25 times more potent than progesterone or hydroxyprogesterone caproate in animal bioassays when all are given by subcutaneous injection. In humans, 100 or 200 mg intramuscular gestonorone caproate has been said to be equivalent to 1,000 mg intramuscular hydroxyprogesterone caproate. Hence, gestonorone caproate is approximately 5- to 10-fold more potent than hydroxyprogesterone caproate in humans. The biological effects of gestonorone caproate in women have been studied. Like other potent progestins, gestonorone caproate possesses potent antigonadotropic activity and is capable of markedly suppressing the gonadal production and circulating levels of sex hormones such as testosterone and estradiol. A clinical study found that 400 mg/week intramuscular gestonorone caproate suppressed testosterone levels by 75% in men, while orchiectomy as a comparator reduced testosterone levels by 91%. Levels of luteinizing hormone, conversely, remained unchanged. In general, progestogens can maximally suppress testosterone levels by about 70 to 80%. In accordance with its lack of glucocorticoid activity, gestonorone caproate has no anticorticotropic effects, and does not influence the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone. 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone has weak progestogenic activity, but C17α esterification results in higher progestogenic activity. Of a variety of different esters, the caproate (hexanoate) ester was found to have the strongest progestogenic activity, and this formed the basis for the development of gestonorone caproate, as well as other caproate progestogen esters such as hydroxyprogesterone caproate. Gestonorone caproate has been found to decrease the weights of the prostate gland and seminal vesicles by 40 to 70% in adult male rats. It has been shown in canines to mediate these effects both via its antigonadotropic effects and by direct actions in these tissues. Gestonorone caproate decreases the uptake of testosterone into the prostate gland. It has also been found to have direct antiproliferative effects on human ovarian cancer cells in vitro.