Walter Elger

Evidence for specific selenium target tissues and new biologically important selenoproteins

After in-vivo labeling with [75Se]selenite the Se-containing proteins present in rat tissues were investigated by means of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Thirteen Se-containing proteins or protein subunits with relative molecular weights of 12,100, 15,600, 18,000, 19,700, 22,200, 23,700, 27,800, 33,300, 55,500, 59,900, 64,900, 70,100 and 75,400 were detected in the tissue homogenates. The protein with the molecular weight of 23,700 was the subunit of glutathione peroxidase, which is the only selenoprotein so far known to have biological functions in animals. Most of these proteins were found in all tissues investigated but one was only detected in the testes and the spermatozoa and one was present mainly in the thyroid. With inadequate selenium intake there was a priority supply of the element to the brain, the reproductive and the endocrine organs, and at a molecular level to Se-containing proteins other than glutathione peroxidase. The results suggest important biological functions of these selenoproteins, especially in the specific target tissues.

Aspects of Androgen-Dependent Events as Studied by Antiandrogens

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the aspects of androgen-dependent events as studied by antiandrogens. The individual studies covered in the chapter are related only insofar as antiandrogens were used in all of them. The chapter focuses on processes of differentiation, studies on the feedback mechanism, and libido and testicular function. It discusses the processes of spermatogenesis that are FSH-dependent. Androgens also play an important role in mammary gland differentiation. It has been known that testicular hormones are responsible for the differences in differentiation of the mammary glands in males and females. All androgen-related sexual differences in mammary gland differentiation can be abolished by the simultaneous administration of antiandrogens. Androgens are also known to be responsible for the differentiation of certain hypothalamic centers into the female or male functional type, and behavioral patterns too are determined hormonally.

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.

Sulfamates of various estrogens are prodrugs with increased systemic and reduced hepatic estrogenicity at oral application

Oral therapy with natural or synthetic estrogens, like ethinylestradiol, suffers from low, suboptimally defined bioavailability and excess hepatic estrogen actions. N,N-alkylated and non-alkylated sulfamates of ethinylestradiol, estradiol and estrone overcome these deficiencies. Ovariectomized Wistar rats (n = 6-7/group) were orally treated for 7 days, and killed on day 8, plasma was gained on days 0, 4, and 8. Systemic estrogenicity was quantified by assessment of uterine weight, vaginal cornification, and measurement of gonadotropins by homologous RIA. Estrogenicity in the liver was analysed. Angiotensinogen was estimated by RIA of angiotensin-1 after incubation of EDTA-plasma with porcine renin. Total and high-density cholesterol were measured by enzymatic methods. Preliminary biotransformation studies were performed after oral administration of 10 micrograms, 5 microCi [2,4,6,7-3H]estradiol sulfamate. Ethinylestradiol led to distinct elevation of angiotensin-1 and dramatic depression of cholesterol fractions, reflecting hepatic estrogen effects, already at doses with marginal systemic effects. Estradiol and estrone had systemic and hepatic estrogenic activity at much higher doses only. Estrogen sulfamates had systemic estrogen activity 10-90-fold above that of their parent estrogen. Non-alkylated sulfamates of given estrogens were more active than N-alkylated ones. Elevation of systemic estrogen activity was always combined with a dramatic reduction of hepatic estrogenicity. Estradiol sulfamate had a 90-fold elevated systemic estrogen activity vs estradiol, but lacked hepatic activity including the 30-fold dose inducing vaginal response. Three hours after administration no unchanged estradiol sulfamate was detectable in plasma. Rather peaks, probably representing estradiol and estrone, were found. Estrogen sulfamates are considered prodrugs of their parent estrogen, which do not interact with any liver function during the first-pass. They represent a new strategy of oral hormone administration. Their main potential seems to be the systemic generation of natural estrogens when used in oral contraceptives.

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.

Antiproliferative effects of progesterone antagonists and progesterone receptor modulators on the endometrium

Progesterone antagonists (PAs, antiprogestins) can modulate estrogenic effects in various estrogen-dependent tissues. These modulatory effects are complex and depend on species, tissue, type of compound, dose, and duration of treatment. In non-human primates, PAs, including mifepristone, ZK 137 316 and ZK 230 211, inhibit endometrial proliferation and induce amenorrhea. When administered chronically at relatively low doses, these compounds block the mitotic activity of endometrial epithelium and induce stromal compaction in a dose-dependent manner in both spayed and intact monkeys at high estradiol concentrations. These effects were accompanied by an atrophy of spiral arteries. The antiproliferative effects were endometrium-specific, since the estrogenic effects in the oviduct and vagina were not inhibited by PAs. Similar endometrial antiproliferative effects were also found after treatment with the progesterone receptor modulator (PRM), mesoprogestin J1042. The endometrial antiproliferative effects of PAs, particularly within the endometrial glands, were also observed in spayed rabbits. In spayed rats, however, the PAs did not inhibit, but rather enhanced, various estrogen responses, including endometrial proliferation, pointing to species-specific differences. In conclusion, our studies indicate that both pure PAs and PRMs selectively inhibit estrogen-dependent endometrial proliferation in the primate endometrium without affecting estrogenic response in other estrogen-dependent tissues or inducing unscheduled bleeding. Our studies indicate that the spiral arteries, which are unique to the primate endometrium, are the primary targets that are damaged or inhibited by PAs and PRMs. The damage to these unique vessels may underlay the paradoxical, endometrium-specific, antiproliferative effects of these compounds. Hence, the properties of PAs and PRMs (mesoprogestins) open up new applications in gynecological therapy and hormone replacement therapy.

Asoprisnil (J867): a selective progesterone receptor modulator for gynecological therapy

Asoprisnil is a novel selective steroid receptor modulator that shows unique pharmacodynamic effects in animal models and humans. Asoprisnil, its major metabolite J912, and structurally related compounds represent a new class of progesterone receptor (PR) ligands that exhibit partial agonist and antagonist activities in vivo. Asoprisnil demonstrates a high degree of receptor and tissue selectivity, with high-binding affinity for PR, moderate affinity for glucocorticoid receptor (GR), low affinity for androgen receptor (AR), and no binding affinity for estrogen or mineralocorticoid receptors. In the rabbit endometrium, both asoprisnil and J912 induce partial agonist and antagonist effects. Asoprisnil induces mucification of the guinea pig vagina and has pronounced anti-uterotrophic effects in normal and ovariectomized guinea pigs. Unlike antiprogestins, asoprisnil shows only marginal labor-inducing activity during mid-pregnancy and is completely ineffective in inducing preterm parturition in the guinea pig. Asoprisnil exhibits only marginal antiglucocorticoid activity in transactivation in vitro assays and animal models. In male rats, asoprisnil showed weak androgenic and anti-androgenic properties. In toxicological studies in female cynomolgus monkeys, asoprisnil treatment abolished menstrual cyclicity and endometrial atrophy. Early clinical studies of asoprisnil in normal volunteers demonstrated a dose-dependent suppression of menstruation irrespective of the effects on ovulation, with no change in basal estrogen concentrations and no antiglucocorticoid effects. Unlike progestins, asoprisnil does not induce breakthrough bleeding. With favorable safety and tolerability profiles thus far, asoprisnil appears promising as a novel treatment of gynecological disorders, such as uterine fibroids and endometriosis.

Selective Progesterone Receptor Modulators (SPRMs)

Abstract: Endometriosis, the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, is a progressive, estrogen‐dependent disease and occurs nearly exclusively in menstruating women of reproductive age. Pain syndrome, however, represents the major clinical problem of this disease, manifested as dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain, lower abdominal pain, and dyspareunia. The manifestation of the disease, that is, the pain syndrome, rather than the disease itself currently represents the major indication for both the medical and surgical therapies of endometriosis. The major drawbacks of current medical therapies of endometriosis are sometimes severe side effects. In this review, selective progesterone receptor modulators (SPRMs, mesoprogestins) as a potential therapeutic concept in endometriosis are discussed. Due to endometrial selectivity and favorable pharmacological profile, SPRMs may have advantages over the current medical treatments of this disease. Other emerging therapeutic approaches for this disease are also mentioned.

The progesterone antagonist onapristone increases the effectiveness of oxytocin to produce delivery without changing the myometrial oxytocin receptor concentrations

The progesterone antagonist onapristone was used in guinea pigs during late pregnancy (43 +/- 2 days after coitus) and before term (day 61 after coitus) to investigate the role of progesterone on uterine reactivity to exogenous oxytocin, concentration of oxytocin receptors, and gap junctions in the myometrium. Onapristone priming increased the ability of oxytocin to induce delivery during late pregnancy and before term by factors of greater than or equal to 30 and approximately 10, respectively. The intrauterine pressure recording on day 43 after coitus revealed phasic, laborlike contractions in response to oxytocin in onapristone-treated animals, in contrast to tonic reactions in controls. The increase in the oxytocin response in onapristone-treated animals was not associated with an increase in myometrial oxytocin receptor concentrations either during late pregnancy or before term. By contrast, treatment with onapristone significantly decreased the input resistance of myometrial cells in guinea pigs in late pregnancy (43 +/- 1 day after coitus) to the level of animals at term. This was associated with a marked increase in myometrial gap junctions stained with antibodies against connexin 43. These results indicate that progesterone may control myometrial reactivity to oxytocin in pregnant guinea pigs by effects on postreceptor events mainly by suppressing the gap junctions.

Approaches to the replacement of ethinylestradiol by natural 17β-estradiol in combined oral contraceptives

The strong hepatic estrogenic actions of ethinylestradiol (EE) are very likely to be the cause of the cardiovascular morbidity related to the use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs). This survey presents results of EE replacement in COCs with natural 17beta-estradiol (E2) in the following stages: reduction of EE to daily doses of 0.01 mg and concomitant replacement with E2 (as valerate, EV), complete replacement of EE with E2 using a novel multiphasic combination containing EV and the progestin dienogest (DNG), and the use of natural E2 to develop estrogen sulfamates (J 995) showing sufficient dissociation of uterine from liver estrogenicity. Recent data from preclinical and clinical studies show that these approaches seem to be promising.