A “promising candidate” for an on-demand contraceptive pill has been identified in preliminary research, it was announced today.
A team from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA, say combining ulipristal acetate, which is used as emergency contraception medication, with COX-2 inhibitor meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, seems to be highly effective at disrupting ovulation at peak fertility.
Ulipristal acetate disrupts ovulation, but only if taken before the luteal surge – the days just before ovulation – begins. Drugs such as COX-2 inhibitors may still be able to disrupt ovulation even after the luteal surge has started.
The researchers wanted to establish if combining the drugs might work at peak fertility and their findings are published in today’s edition of *BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health*.
The study included 10 women between the ages of 18 and 35, all of whom had regular periods. Each woman was monitored through two menstrual cycles: a baseline cycle, to identify normal ovulatory patterns and a treatment cycle, when participants were given a combined dose of ulipristal acetate 30 mg and meloxicam 30 mg around the time of the luteal surge.
Ultrasound scans and key hormones were measured to identify the luteal surge and to see if ovulation had occurred or been disrupted. Nine women completed both baseline and treatment cycles and were included in the final analysis.
Ovulation was disrupted in six women in the treatment cycle, with 89% (eight) meeting some criteria for incomplete ovulation. Treatment cycles were about three days longer and the research team says this cycle length disruption is especially important for those who may also be using fertility awareness methods.
Although this is a small, preliminary study, which means further studies are needed, they say the results are promising, making it “a promising candidate for evaluation as a pericoital oral contraceptive”.
Cahill EP, Lerma K, Shaw KA et al. Potential candidate for oral pericoital contraception: evaluating ulipristal acetate plus cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor for ovulation disruption. *BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health* 26 April 2022; doi 10.1136/bmjsrh-2021-201446
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