THE TREATMENT OF DYSFUNCTIONAL UTERINE BLEEDING WITH TESTOSTERONE PROPIONATE

Abstract

WITH THE RECENT availability of the chemically pure and highly con′centrated androgens, the medical profession is confronted with the problems of therapeutic indications, margin of safety and optimal dosage.Therapeutic indications and margin of safety of a new therapeutic agent are primarily suggested by the response of animal organs to different quanti′ ties of the product. An analysis of the current literature on the effects of testosterone propionate in female animals permits the following conclusions. A. Short treatment (1 to 10 days) produces indifferent or stimulative changes in the ovary of mature and immature rats, depending largely on the dose employed (1, 2, 3). B. Prolonged treatment (6a to 102 days) produces definite degenerative changes in the rat ovary. This effect is, however, temporary, inasmuch as there is restitution of function and partial restitution of structure in the adult rat within 29 days after withdrawal of treatment (4).