Obesity and Oral Contraceptive Failure

December 11, 2019 updated by: Oregon Health and Science University

Prenatal Growth Programs Oral Contraceptive Metabolism and Effectiveness

Contraceptive failure is the primary cause of unintended pregnancy in the United States. With obesity rates at epidemic proportions, any association between obesity and strategies that prevent undesired pregnancies constitutes a significant public health and economic concern. Evidence from recent epidemiological studies and our preliminary data (sub-therapeutic levels of steroid hormones due to drug clearance and half-life) suggest that obesity reduces oral contraceptive efficacy. Furthermore, preliminary analysis suggested that a sub-group of obese women, defined by their own birth weight, are at higher risk of contraceptive failure. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether birth weight, a surrogate marker of in utero growth restriction, is a useful diagnostic marker for the identification of women prone to contraceptive failure. Such an understanding is critical to finding a contraceptive strategy with better efficacy for these women.

The overall goal of this project is to test pharmacokinetics of oral contraceptive agents in obese women with low birth weight and compare to obese women with normal birth weight. The main hypothesis for this proposal is that an adverse in utero environment programs the expression and function of enzymes and transporters that underlie pharmacokinetics of oral contraceptives, and leads to contraceptive failure.

Reproductive-aged, ovulatory women of obese BMI >30 kg/m2 with normal birth weight (5.5-8 lbs; n=10) and low birth weight (<5.5 lbs; n=10), will be placed on oral contraceptives for 1 month. At several key time points, synthetic steroid pharmacokinetics, gonadotropins (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone) and ovarian hormone levels (estradiol, progesterone) will be monitored.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

26

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
    • Oregon
      • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239
        • Oregon Health & Science University

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Reproductive-aged, ovulatory women seeking to initiate contraception with combined oral contraceptives will be recruited from the female population of the Portland, OR area. Subjects must have access to their birth weight record. Enrollment will be confined to women who have not used a hormonal contraceptive method for 30 days or more prior to enrollment.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • age 18 to 35.
  • single progesterone level of 3 ng/mL or greater during the luteal phase (days 18 to 25) in the menstrual cycle prior to dosing with oral contraceptives.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • absolute/relative contraindications to ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.
  • impaired liver function.
  • history of deep venous thrombosis.
  • hypertension (> 140/90).
  • diabetes with vascular changes.
  • migraines with aura or neurological changes.
  • history of myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolus, stroke or breast cancer.
  • anemia (hematocrit < 36%).
  • actively seeking or involved in a weight loss program (must be weight stable)
  • pregnancy, breastfeeding, or seeking pregnancy.
  • diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
  • recent (4 week) use of hormonal contraceptives (patch or ring included), intrauterine, or implantable hormonal contraception.
  • DepoProvera use within six months.
  • current use of drugs that interfere with metabolism of sex steroids.
  • smokers.
  • uncontrolled thyroid dysfunction.

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

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Low birth-weight, obese
Low birth-weight, normal body weight
Normal birth-weight, obese
Normal birth-weight, normal body weight

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measure pharmacokinetic parameters of oral contraceptives including drug clearance.
Time Frame: on day 21 of oral contraceptive use
Serum concentration-time data for each subject will be analyzed using a non-compartmental model assumption. Serum concentrations below the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) at the beginning and end of the profile will be set to zero. Serum concentration-time profiles will be summarized using descriptive statistics and graphical display. Student t-tests will be used to test whether the average values of each of the pharmacokinetic parameters, including free concentrations, differ between the four groups of women.
on day 21 of oral contraceptive use

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Measure levels of gonadotropins and ovarian hormones
Time Frame: Days 21-25 of oral contraceptive use
To compare gonadotopin levels, average leutinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone levels measured for days 21-25 will be calculated. In addition, the follicle stimulating hormone/leutinizing hormone ratio will be calculated at each time point. The average levels of these measures will then be compared between the four groups of women using a student's t-test.
Days 21-25 of oral contraceptive use

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Oregon Health and Science University

Collaborators

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ganesh Cherala, PhD, Oregon Health and Science University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

Study Start

August 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 10, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 12, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

September 17, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 13, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 11, 2019

Last Verified

December 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB00009569
  • 2K12HD043488-11 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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