The Antiprogestin Steroid RU 486 and Human Fertility Control

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. RU 486: An Antiprogestin Steroid with Contragestive Activity in Women

   • Etienne-Emile Baulieu

   Pages 1-25

3. Analogues of RU 486 for the Mapping of the Progestin Receptor: Synthetic and Structural Aspects

   • Georges Teutsch

   Pages 27-47

4. Pharmacological Profile of RU 486 in Animals

   • D. Philibert, M. Moguilewsky, I. Mary, D. Lecaque, C. Tournemine, J. Secchi et al.

   Pages 49-68

5. The Use of the Antiprogesterone Compound RU 486 to Control Timing of Parturition in Rats

   • M. J. Bosc, G. Germain, A. Nicolle, D. Philibert, E. E. Baulieu

   Pages 69-70

6. In Vivo Assessment of Anti-Progesterone and Anti-Glucocorticoid Activities of RU 486 in Rats: Efficacy in Terminating Early Pregnancy in the Rat

   • C. C. Chang, Sheldon J. Segal, C. Wayne Bardin

   Pages 71-78

7. Histopharmacology of RU 486

   • J. Secchi, D. Lecaque, C. Tournemine, D. Philibert

   Pages 79-86

8. Biochemical Profile of RU 486

   • M. Moguilewsky, D. Philibert

   Pages 87-97

9. Radioimmunoassay of RU 486

   • J. Salmon, M. Mouren

   Pages 99-101

10. Pharmacokinetics of RU 486

    • Roger Deraedt, Claude Bonnat, Monique Busigny, Pierre Chatelet, Christian Cousty, Michel Mouren et al.

    Pages 103-122

11. Toxicological Study on RU 486

    • Roger Deraedt, Bernard Vannier, Robert Fournex

    Pages 123-126

12. Non-Human Primate Studies with RU 486

    • David L. Healy, Gary D. Hodgen

    Pages 127-140

13. Studies on the Antireproductive Mechanisms of Action of RU 486

    • Francisco J. Rojas, James L. O’Conner, Ricardo H. Asch

    Pages 141-154

14. Effects of the Antiprogesterone Agent RU 486 on the Natural Cycle and Gestation in Intact Cynomolgus Monkeys

    • G. Germain, D. Philibert, J. Pottier, M. Mouren, E. E. Baulieu, C. Sureau

    Pages 155-167

15. Behavioral and Endocrine Consequences of Long-Term Antiprogesterone (RU 486) Administration to Cynomolgus Monkeys: Preliminary Results

    • Ronald D. Nadler, Christian Roth-Meyer, Etienne-Emile Baulieu

    Pages 169-177

16. Effects of the Antiprogesterone RU 486 in Early Pregnancy and during the Menstrual Cycle

    • W. L. Herrmann, A. M. Schindler, R. Wyss, P. Bischof

    Pages 179-198

17. Interruption of Early Pregnancy by the Antiprogestational Compound RU 486

    • A. A. Haspels

    Pages 199-209

18. Clinical Study of RU 486 in Early Pregnancy

    • David Elia

    Pages 211-220

19. Termination of Very Early Pregnancy with Different Doses of RU 486: A Phase I Controlled Clinical Trial

    • Laszlo Kovacs

    Pages 221-234

20. Clinical Effects of RU 486 Administered for Seven Days in Early Pregnancy

    • Lars Birgerson, Viveca Odlind, Elof Johansson

    Pages 235-241

Advances in basic biological research have proceeded rapidly in recent years. The fields of molecular genetics and immunology have experienced dramatic breakthroughs, capturing the imagination of both the scientific community and the general public. With less public notice, receptor biology has brought a cascade of new discoveries and insights. The entire science of pharmacology has been virtually rewritten in terms of receptor phenomenology. In particular, the discovery of specific receptors for steroid and protein hormones has been of seminal importance. With this new information, we have advanced our understanding of the mechanism and specifity of hormone action. We can now explain how hormones interact selectively with specific target cells and how hormones alter biochemical events within the target cells. These facts have already impacted on applied problems of clinical medicine, particularly in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and some metabolic diseases. Now, a new and important application of basic receptor biology and chemistry looms ahead. Within a few short years since the discovery of the progesterone receptor, chemists have synthesized molecules with a greater affinity for the receptor than progesterone itself and which, while occupying the receptor, fail to trigger the events which transform a target cell from the unstimulated to the stimulated state. This is the basis of the competitive inhibitory action of the anti-progestational agent, synthesized by the chemists at Roussel Uc1af, Paris, and designated RU 486.

• biology
• cancer
• cells
• chemistry
• diagnosis
• enology
• fertility
• fields
• genetics
• immunology
• information
• medicine
• pharmacology
• protein
• receptor
• Tree Biology

• University of Paris-Sud, Paris, France

  Etienne-Emile Baulieu

• The Rockefeller Foundation, New York, USA

  Sheldon J. Segal

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