Trial reportThe European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception2015
Inhibition of ovulation by administration of estetrol in combination with drospirenone or levonorgestrel: Results of a phase II dose-finding pilot study.
Trial report in The European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Estetrol-based combined oral contraceptives: A systematic review of clinical outcomes.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Pooled it
- Estetrol/drospirenone for combined oral contraception: a systematic review of efficacy, cycle control, and safety.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Clinical and endocrine effects of pharmacological therapy in endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Establishing a Quantitative Framework for Combined Oral Contraceptives: Evaluating the Impact of Drug-Drug Interactions on Exposure and Clinical (Surrogate) Efficacy Endpoints.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Estetrol-Drospirenone combination oral contraceptive: a clinical study of contraceptive efficacy, bleeding pattern and safety in Europe and Russia.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2022Trial
- Tumor suppression, dose-limiting toxicity and wellbeing with the fetal estrogen estetrol in patients with advanced breast cancer.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2021Trial
- A detailed review of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of progestogens in oral contraception.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Estetrol and its implications for contraception, venous thromboembolism, and breast cancer: an integrative review.Jornal vascular brasileiro · 2026Review
- Delayed start of estetrol drospirenone versus ethinyl estradiol gestodene for ovulation inhibition in a noninferiority randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Role of Membrane Estrogen Receptor Alpha on the Positive Feedback of Estrogens on Kisspeptin and GnRH Neurons.eNeuro · 2024Article
- Reversible female contraceptives: historical, current, and future perspectives†.Biology of reproduction · 2024Review
- Estetrol: From Preclinical to Clinical Pharmacology and Advances in the Understanding of the Molecular Mechanism of Action.Drugs in R&D · 2023Review
- Review
- Progestogen-only oral contraceptives.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2022Article
- Estetrol: A New Choice for Contraception.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Review
- Estetrol and Mammary Gland: Friends or Foes?Journal of mammary gland biology and neoplasia · 2021Review
- Pro-Apoptotic Effects of Estetrol on Long-Term Estrogen-Deprived Breast Cancer Cells and at Low Doses on Hormone-Sensitive Cells.Breast cancer : basic and clinical research · 2019Article
- Systematic Review of Ovarian Activity and Potential for Embryo Formation and Loss during the Use of Hormonal Contraception.The Linacre quarterly · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of different dosages of estetrol (E4) combined with one of two progestins in suppressing the pituitary-ovarian axis and ovulation in healthy premenopausal women.
methodsThis was an open, parallel, phase II, dose-finding, pilot study performed in healthy women aged 18 to 35 years with a documented ovulatory cycle before treatment. For three consecutive cycles in a 24/4-day regimen, participants received 5 mg or 10 mg E4/3 mg drospirenone (DRSP); 5 mg, 10 mg or 20 mg E4/150 μg levonorgestrel; or 20 μg ethinylestradiol (EE)/3 mg DRSP as comparator. Pituitary-ovarian axis activity and the occurrence of ovulation were evaluated by monitoring follicular size, serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, estradiol and progesterone during treatment cycles 1 and 3. Endometrial thickness was evaluated throughout the trial, and the return of ovulation was evaluated after the last intake of medication.
resultsA total of 109 women were included in the trial. No ovulation occurred in any treatment group. Ovarian activity inhibition seemed proportional to the E4 dosage: the highest suppression was observed in the 20 mg E4 group and was very similar to that observed with EE/DRSP. Endometrial thickness was suppressed to the same extent in all groups. Post-treatment ovulation occurred in all participants between 17 and 21 days after the last active treatment. The study combinations were well tolerated and safe.
conclusionsCombined with a progestin, E4 adequately suppresses ovarian activity, particularly when given at a dosage above 10 mg/day.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.