Emergency Contraception and Body Weight: Pilot Study

September 22, 2017 updated by: Alison Edelman, Oregon Health and Science University
The purpose of this research study is to determine how body weight changes the drug level of an emergency contraceptive pill containing a hormone called levonorgestrel (LNG). This emergency contraceptive is available to women without a prescription, but has recently been found to not work as well to prevent pregnancies in women of higher body weight. The overall goal of this research is to improve the effectiveness of contraception for women, no matter their weight.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

To determine if differences exist in the pharmacokinetics (PK) of levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception (LNG-EC) in obese and normal body mass index (BMI) users and test whether doubling the dose of LNG-EC in obese women increases total and free LNG serum concentrations.

We enrolled healthy, reproductive-age women with obese and normal BMIs received 1.5 mg LNG orally and then in a subsequent menstrual cycle, the obese group also received 3 mg LNG. Total and free LNG PK parameters were obtained via serum samples through an indwelling catheter at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 h. The primary outcome was the difference in total and free LNG concentration maximum (Cmax) between ECx1 and ECx2 in the obese group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

10

Phase

  • Phase 4

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

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects are between the ages of 18 and 35
  • Subjects are in good general health
  • Subjects have regular menstrual cycles (between 21 and 35 days)
  • Subjects are willing to use condoms (if you are sexually active with a male partner), subjects are willing to not have sex with men during the study, or subjects have had a tubal ligation (or have a partner who has had a vasectomy) or subjects have a copper intrauterine device (IUD).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Metabolic disorders including uncontrolled thyroid dysfunction and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
  • Impaired liver or renal function
  • Actively seeking or involved in a weight loss program (must be weight stable)
  • Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or seeking pregnancy; recent (8 week) use of hormonal contraception
  • Current use of drugs that interfere with metabolism of sex steroids
  • Smokers.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Normal BMI ECx1
5 normal weight women (BMI<25 kg/m2) taking 1.5mg LNG
Drug: ECx1
At the first treatment visit, all women will be given the study drug (1.5 mg of levonorgestrel) and several blood samples will be taken over 2.5 hours). After this visit, women with a BMI of <25 kg/m2 will have completed study participation.
Other Names:
  • Next choice
  • Emergency Contraception
Active Comparator: Obese BMI ECx1
5 obese women (BMI >30 kg/m2) taking 1.5mg LNG
Drug: ECx1
At the first treatment visit, all women will be given the study drug (1.5 mg of levonorgestrel) and several blood samples will be taken over 2.5 hours). After this visit, women with a BMI of <25 kg/m2 will have completed study participation.
Other Names:
  • Next choice
  • Emergency Contraception
Active Comparator: Obese BMI ECx2
5 obese women (BMI >30 kg/m2) taking 3mg LNG
Drug: ECx2
At the first treatment visit, all women will be given the study drug (1.5 mg of levonorgestrel) and several blood samples will be taken over 2.5 hours). For women with a BMI of 30kg/m2 and greater, one additional visit will be required and study drug (3 mg of levonorgestrel) will be given and several blood samples will be taken over 2.5 hours)
Other Names:
  • Next choice
  • Emergency Contraception

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Maximum Serum Concentration Between Normal and Obese BMI Women Ingesting 1.5mg Levonorgestrel
Time Frame: Follicular phase of menstrual cycle and PK sampling at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5
Pharmacokinetic sampling at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 hours were performed after ingestion of 1.5mg of levonorgestrel
Follicular phase of menstrual cycle and PK sampling at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Maximum Serum Concentration Between Obese BMI Women Ingesting 1.5mg of Levonorgestrel and Then the Same Obese BMI Women Ingesting 3mg Levonorgestrel
Time Frame: Follicular phase of menstrual cycle
Pharmacokinetic sampling at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 hours were performed after ingestion of 3mg of levonorgestrel
Follicular phase of menstrual cycle

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Oregon Health and Science University

Collaborators

Medical Research Foundation, Oregon

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alison Edelman, MD, MPH, 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

February 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 27, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 2, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 3, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 25, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 22, 2017

Last Verified

September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • OHSU IRB 11419

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

PI acknowledges willingness to share data and materials with other investigators through established means. Data will be presented via presentation and publication. Transfer of resources is subject to the acceptance of a Materials Transfer Agreement as required by policy at OHSU. OHSU complies with NIH policy on Sharing Research Data.

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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