ABSTRACT
Medroxyprogesterone is a derivative of progestogen and is used either orally or intramuscularly as a contraceptive and in treating endometrial or renal carcinoma as well as secondary amenorrhea or abnormal uterine bleeding due to hormonal imbalance. It inhibits secretion of pituitary gonadotropin, which prevents follicular maturation and ovulation. Medroxyprogesterone is available commercially under the trade name Provera®, DepoProvera®, among other names, and when combined as an oral contraceptive with the estrogen ethinyl estradiol, as Provest®. Laboratory studies in animals have produced pseudohermaphroditism in rats and primates. According to an US Food and Drug Administration publication, only 14 cases of fetal ambiguous genitalia due to progestogens, including medroxyprogesterone, were known to them. In a number of studies, researchers have not found any fetal effects, including malformations other than genital, from medroxyprogesterone treatment in pregnancy. Medroxyprogesterone is a large hydrophobic molecule with average polarity. It can participate in hydrogen bonding primarily as a hydrogen bond acceptor.
