title: Functional status of the pituitary-adrenal axis during treatment of RU486 for termination of early pregnancy in combination with PGs in Chinese women.
abstract: Six pregnant women (below 49 days of amenorrhea) desiring pregnancy termination received 600 mg RU486 orally in a single dosage and 1 mg PG-05 or ONO-802 as vaginal suppository 48 h afterward. Plasma cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone and ACTH were monitored at -0.5, 1, 2, 4, 10, 24, 48, 72 h as well as during the first follow-up visit at the 8th day. Cortisol increased during the treatment and the values returned to the pretreatment level by the first follow-up visit. The changes of corticosterone were similar to those of cortisol. ACTH was also elevated within first 2 h and returned to the basal level at 48 h. There was no notable change in aldosterone during the treatment. The results suggest that a compensation of the pituitary-adrenal function occurred during the treatment, which is probably associated with a decreased negative feedback mechanism of cortisol due to the antiglucocorticosteroid activity of RU486 at the hypothalamus level.
authors.affiliation: Family Planning Research Institute, Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: X L
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: X R
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000019:Abortifacient Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000021:Abortifacient Agents, Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000097:blood; D002681:China; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004963:Estrenes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007700:Kinetics; D015735:Mifepristone; D010570:Pessaries; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011453:Prostaglandins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000019:Abortifacient Agents; D000021:Abortifacient Agents, Steroidal; D004963:Estrenes; D011453:Prostaglandins; D015735:Mifepristone; D000450:Aldosterone; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone