title: Long-acting injectable hormonal dosage forms for contraception.
abstract: Although great efforts have been made to develop long-acting injectable hormonal contraceptives for more than four decades, few long-acting injectable contraceptives have reached the pharmaceutical market or even entered clinical trials. On the other hand, in clinical practice there is an urgent need for injectable long-acting reversible contraceptives which can provide contraceptive protection for more than 3 months after one single injection. Availability of such products will offer great flexibility to women and resolve certain continuation issues currently occurring in clinics. Herein, we reviewed the strategies exploited in the past to develop injectable hormonal contraceptive dosages including drug microcrystal suspensions, drug-loaded microsphere suspensions and in situ forming depot systems for long-term contraception and discussed the potential solutions for remaining issues met in the previous development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Linfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Dileep R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Janagam
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Mandrell
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Tao L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lowe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods*; D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D065546:Drug Liberation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008863:Microspheres; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010316:Particle Size; D045167:Progesterone Congeners / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004337:Drug Carriers; D045167:Progesterone Congeners