Oral Contraceptive Hormone-free Interval Pituitary/ Ovarian Activity

July 25, 2019 updated by: Frank Stanczyk, University of Southern California

LH, FHS, Estradiol and Progesterone Activity During the 7-Day Hormone-Free Interval of Various Combined Oral Contraceptive Regimens

The degree of suppression and subsequent activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis during the hormone-free interval in combined oral contraceptive (COC) hormone users varies depending on the dose of ethinyl estradiol in the formulation. This variation in activation may be associated with different side effects during the hormone free interval. Progesterone (P) remained suppressed during all 6 COC regimens (<1.8 ng/mL), which indicates continuous contraceptive efficacy during the 7-day hormone free interval of all formulations studied.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
64

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States
        • LAC and USC Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy, reproductive age women 18 to 35 years old, who were seeking contraception from the general gynecology clinics of the LAC and USC Medical Center were recruited. The research team identified potential candidates who were taking one of 6 possible monophasic COC formulations. Informed consent was obtained from participants by the research staff. To be eligible for participation, women reported regular menstrual cycles prior to COCs, and had taken at least 3 cycles of the same monophasic COC prior to enrollment.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy, reproductive age women
  • 18 to 35 years old,
  • seeking contraception from the general gynecology clinics of the LAC and USC Medical Center w
  • taking one of 6 possible monophasic COC formulations for at least 3 cycles prior to enrollment
  • regular menstrual cycles prior to COCs

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Irregular bleeding
  • bilateral oophorectomy
  • amenorrhea
  • hormone-sensitive cancer
  • concurrent medications known to interfere with steroid metabolism (i.e., barbiturates, phenytoin, carbamazepine, ethosuximide, primidone, rifampin, tetracycline)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Healthy reproductive age women
These volunteers were previously taking the oral contraceptives of interest for a minimum of 3 months
Drug: combined oral contraceptives
Other Names:
  • ALESSE, LOESTRIN, NORDETTE, ORTHOCEPT, ORTHOCYCLEN, ORTHO NOVUM

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Follicle-stimulating Hormone
Time Frame: Serum blood samples were collected for hormone measurements at the same time daily during the 7 day hormone free interval.
mean FSH on day 7 of the pill free interval
Serum blood samples were collected for hormone measurements at the same time daily during the 7 day hormone free interval.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Southern California

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 1998

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 17, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 25, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 30, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 26, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 25, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Hormone free interval

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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