Interference in primate follicular maturation: an approach with inhibin for female contraception

Abstract

Investigations to study the effect of inhibin (purified from sheep ovaries) on the corpus luteum function of five regularly cycling bonnet monkeys were undertaken. The treatment with inhibin administered during the first three days of the cycle led to (a) a delay in the occurrence of preovulatory estradiol peak; (b) a reduction in the secretion of estradiol and progesterone during the cycle (significant in 2/5 cycles) and (c) consistent reduction in the length of the luteal phase. There was no interference in the occurrence of physiological events of the cycle such as selection of dominant follicle, ovulation and corpus luteum formation. These results suggest that inhibin or one of its analogues, administered for a short time at the early part of the cycle, might prove useful as a female contraceptive.