Will Drospirenone prevent Ovulation?

Figure 1. The Menstrual Cycle. 
Source. Muniz, J. The Menstrual Cycle. https://medcomic.com/medcomic/the-menstrual-cycle/ (accessed Feb. 2, 2018).

Drospirenone, C24H30O3 [1], is a progestin hormone that has the same effect as endogenous progesterone, which is naturally produced by the body [2]. It can only be sold with a combination of estradiol in the form of a solid contraceptive medication [1]. Some of its properties includes, water and ethanol soluble [1,3] which makes it easy to ingest and be processed by the body, a melting point of 201.3degrees Celsius [1] and a half-life of 30 hours [4]. Drospirenone is mainly used for oral contraceptive medications to prevent pregnancy [1]. Once it enters the body, it diffuses freely in the female reproductive tract and hypothalamus, which then binds to the progesterone receptors to slow down the release of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus [5]. Without GnRH, the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge, during a normal menstrual cycle, cannot occur. Consequently, ovulation will not happen due to the inhibition of LH surge thus preventing pregnancy.

Health Effects

There are some common side effects of drospirenone once absorbed by the body. These include headache, mood changes, vomiting, and tiredness or weakness [6,7]. It can also increase the risks of blood clots, stroke, and heart attack [6]. During early pregnancy, there is little to no harm of birth defects in women who use oral contraceptives [7]. Although, drospirenone is passed onto nursing babies during the process of breast-feeding [7].

Alternatives

            There are several oral contraceptives that do not use drospirenone, however, estrodial is contained in all of these, such as Climara Pro, Combipatch, Activella, Prefest [8]. Intra-Uterine Device (IUD) is also another substitute that can be used [9]. The ParaGard, a type of IUD, does not contain any hormones, but rather uses the copper surrounding the device to kill sperms in order to prevent fertilization so that pregnancy does not occur.

[1]Drospirenone. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Drospirenone#section=Top (accessed January 27, 2018).

[2] Genazzani, A.R.; Mannella, P.; Simoncini, T. Climacteric; Taylor & Francis Online: Wales, UK, 2009; p.1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17364593

[3] Drospirenone. ChemSpider search and share chemistry, 2015. http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.62105.html (accessed January 27, 2018). Royal Society of Chemistry.

[4] Drosperinone. https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB01395 (accesses January 27, 2018).

[5] Actions of Drospirenone (Femelle Fol) in details. https://www.ndrugs.com/?s=femelle%20fol&t=actions (accessed 27, 2018).

[6] Drospirenone-Ethinyl Estradiol Side Effects by Likelihood and Severity. https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-21091-5115/drospirenone-ethinyl-estradiol-oral/ethinyl-estradiol-drospirenone-oral/details/list-sideeffects (accessed January 27, 2018).

[7] Cunha, J.P. Yaz Side Effects Center. https://www.rxlist.com/yaz-side-effects-drug-center.htm (accessed January 27, 2018).

[8] Angeliq (drospirenone/estradiol). https://www.iodine.com/drug/angeliq/alternatives (accessed January 27, 2018).

[9] IUD. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/iud (accessed January 27, 2018).