Stopping the process of pregnancy

Article Abstract:

A pill that induces abortion without surgery, RU 486, was introduced in France in September 1988. RU 486 appears to be a safe and effective means to terminate pregnancy through the ninth week of gestation. This medication ends pregnancy by interfering with the action of progesterone, a female hormone necessary for successful pregnancy. During the normal menstrual cycle, estrogens (also female hormones) prompt the lining of the uterus to thicken. Estrogen levels peak mid-cycle and the level of another hormone, luteinizing hormone, rises to stimulate release of the egg from the follicle. The empty follicle becomes the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone. Progesterone's role is then to prepare the uterus for pregnancy by further thickening its lining and increasing its blood flow. If fertilization occurs, the embryo attaches to the uterine wall. Cells surrounding the embryo secrete another hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, which supports the corpus luteum, maintaining its progesterone production. The result is acceptance of the embryo by the uterus, allowing it to implant. For nine more weeks the corpus luteum is responsible for progesterone secretion, thereby continuing pregnancy. The physiological explanation for the abortion effect achieved by RU 486 is as follows. Normally, a cell receptor binds to a special protein, the heat shock protein, and the subsequent binding of progesterone to the receptor releases the protein. Release of the heat shock protein allows the receptor-progesterone complex to communicate with the genetic material, DNA. RU 486 blocks the attachment of progesterone, preventing release of the protein and transcription of DNA. By blocking the binding of progesterone to the receptor, the drug prevents progesterone from maintaining pregnancy.

Physiological aspects, Hormone antagonists, Abortion, Progesterone, Progesterone receptors

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Dispute surfaces over paternity of RU 486

Article Abstract:

Etienne-Emile Baulieu won the 1989 Lasker Prize for the development of compound RU 486 for clinical use. A pill containing RU 486 causes the abortion of a fetus by providing the fertilized embryo with an incompatible uterine environment. However, there is controversy on who should be credited with the discovery of the compound itself, aside from its use for this purpose. In 1979, Georges Teutsch and Alain Belanger, chemists at the French drug company Roussel Uclaf, synthesized chemical variations on the basic steroid molecule. Some of the new chemicals blocked receptors for steroids, causing inhibition of the effects of the steroids. Steroids are a group of chemicals with a similar basic structure, many of which are hormones; the group includes the hormones involved in sexual reproduction. Because of the controversy surrounding birth control, Roussel did not want to study hormones involved in sexual reproduction. Consultants, including Baulieu, were called to Roussel to discuss other effects the compounds might have besides those with sexual reproduction. However, the compound RU 486 bound so tightly to the receptors for glucocorticoids, hormones involved in food metabolism by the body, and progesterone, a sex hormone, that the researchers at Roussel decided to investigate it further. Once the drug was further developed by the scientists at Roussel, Baulieu was involved in the clinical testing of the compound in humans. He had to persuade the company not to abandon the drug because of the company's policy not to develop drugs on contraception and abortion. So although the scientists at Roussel discovered and developed the drug, it was Baulieu who implemented its clinical use.

Research, Hormone receptors, Abortifacients, Birth control, Baulieu, Etienne-Emile, Roussel Uclaf S.A.

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Europe: bovine growth hormone in a political maze

Article Abstract:

Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbGH), a genetically engineered drug designed to make cows produce more milk, faces opposition in the United States and in Europe, though for slightly different reasons. In Europe, fears have been raised about the effect on small farmers if agribusiness dramatically increases its milk production. In addition, any new drugs for veterinary use must be approved by an organization made up of representatives from European Commission countries. Monsanto, one manufacturer of rbGH, was denied approval for its product in Britain by the UK Veterinary Products Committee (VPC), which, however, voiced no concern about the drug's effectiveness or safety. Any decision by the VPC would be irrelevant in any event, because the European Committee for Veterinary and Medical Products (CVMP) must first rule. The CVMP has been advised by the European Parliament not to decide before November 1991, when issues will have been more completely evaluated. Of concern are the possible 'socio-economic' effects, issues raised in this case by small farmers. Monsanto's answer has been to criticize the application of 'subjective criteria' to scientific topics. Emphasis, says the company, should be on market, rather than theoretical, considerations. For the time being, though, politics has stopped the spread of rbGH in Europe. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, Evaluation, Political aspects, Bovine somatotropin, Milk production

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