Sybille Beier

New steroids with antiprogestational and antiglucocorticoid activities

A number of 11-substituted 19-norsteroids with inverse configuration at C-13 were synthesized. 11 beta-Aryl compounds in this series were found to possess antiprogestational and antiglucocorticoid activities.

Drospirenone : a novel progestogen with antimineralocorticoid and antiandrogenic activity : pharmacological characterization in animal models

Drospirenone (ZK 30595; 6 beta, 7 beta, 15 beta, 16 beta-dimethylen-3- oxo-17 alpha-pregn-4-ene-21, 17-carbo-lactone) is a novel progestogen under clinical development. Potential applications include oral contraception, hormone replacement therapy and treatment of hormonal disorders. Drospirenone is characterized by a pharmacodynamic profile very closely related to that of progesterone. The progestogenic activity of drospirenone has been analysed in a variety of animal models. The compound efficiently promotes the maintenance of pregnancy in rats, inhibits ovulation in rats and stimulates endometrial transformation in the rabbit. Furthermore, drospirenone shows potent antigonadotropic, i.e. testosterone-lowering, activity in male cynomolgus monkeys. The progestogenic potency of drospirenone was found to be in the range of that of norethisterone acetate or cyproterone acetate. Like progesterone, drospirenone has been shown to have an antimineralocorticoid effect in rats and humans. It has now been demonstrated that the compound has a long-lasting natriuretic activity in rats on administration of a daily dose of 10 mg s.c. for three weeks. Under identical conditions, spironolactone, a widely-used antimineralocorticoid, becomes ineffective after the initial treatment phase. Drospirenone exhibits antiandrogenic activity in castrated, testosterone-substituted male rats as shown by dose-dependent inhibition of accessory sex organ growth (prostate, seminal vesicles). In this model, the potency of drospirenone was found to be about one-third that of cyproterone acetate. The compound is devoid of androgenic, estrogenic, glucocorticoid and antiglucocorticoid activity. Possible drug interaction between drospirenone and ethinylestradiol (EE) was also investigated. EE did not interfere with either the progestogenic or the antimineralocorticoid activity of drospirenone. In conclusion, drospirenone represents a novel type of synthetic progestogen since it combines potent progestogenic characteristics with antimineralocorticoid and antiandrogenic activity. Thus, the pharmacological profile of drospirenone is more closely related to that of the natural hormone progesterone than is that of any other synthetic progestogen in use today. Therefore, drospirenone is anticipated to give rise to a number of additional health benefits both for users of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy recipients.

Synthesis of ENT-17-(prop-1-ynyl-17β-hydroxy-11β-(4-(N,N-dimethylamino) -phenyl)-4,9-estradien-3-one, the antipode of RU — 38 486

The title compound was synthesized and tested for its biological activities. It showed neither antiprogesterone nor antiglucocorticoid properties.

Synthesis and biological testing of 4′-(dimenthylamino)-17β-hydroxy-17α-(1-propynyl)benzo[12,12a]-11α,18-cyclo-12a,12b-dihomo-13α-estr-4-en-3-one: an interesting RU 38 486 analog

Abstract A partial synthesis of the title compound, 4′-(dimethylamino)-17β-hydroxy-17α-(1-propynyl)benzo[12,12a]-11α,18-cyclo-12a,12b-dihomo-13α- estr-4-en-3-one 1, is reported. The key step in this synthesis represents an intramolecular alkenylarly radical cyclization. Treatment of 18-[bromo-5-(dimethylamino)phenyl]gona-5,9(11)-diene-3,17-dione-3,17-dione-3,17-bis [cyclic,2-ethanediyl acetal] 5 with tributyl tin hydride and a radical initiator introduces the desired 11β,18-bridge. The reduced progesterone receptor affinity of this RU 38 486 analog contributes valuable information to the empirical characterization of the steroid binding site of the receptor protein and explains the observed lack of in vivo antigestational activity.