Oral contraceptive side effects: where's the beef?

The initial report is reviewed, as well as the results of subsequent investigations, and the current status of the following side effects attributed to the use of oral contraceptives: subjective symptoms such as mood and libido changes, also headache; melanoma; gallbladder disease; liver tumors, sickle cell disease exacerbation; teratogenesis; "post-Pill" amenorrhea; atherogenesis; and diminished carbohydrate tolerance. In many instances a cause-and-effect relationship appears to be incorrect or highly improbable. In other instances the side effects are clinically insignificant or so rare as to be of minimal importance.

Influence of high doses of vitamin C on the bioavailability and the serum protein binding of levonorgestrel in women using a combination oral contraceptive.

The absence of an effect of high oral doses of vitamin C on the systemic availability of ethinylestradiol in women using a levonorgestrel-containing combination oral contraceptive (0.15 mg levonorgestrel and 0.03 mg ethinylestradiol) was demonstrated in a recent study.

Absence of an effect of high vitamin C dosage on the systemic availability of ethinyl estradiol in women using a combination oral contraceptive.

Previous studies in small numbers of women have suggested that the administration of gram quantities of ascorbic acid interferes with the conversion of ethinyl estradiol (EE2) to its sulfates, leading to higher blood levels of EE2. The possibility of such potentiation has been investigated in 37 women using a combination monophasic oral contraceptive (30 micrograms EE2 and 150 micrograms levonorgestrel) for two consecutive cycles. Concomitant daily administration of 1 g ascorbic acid taken 1/2 hour before OC intake, was randomly assigned to the first or second cycle of OC use.

Linear regression analysis of ultrasound follicular growth series: statistical relationship of growth rate and calculated date of growth onset to total growth period.

Linear regression analysis was used to assess the serial growth of carefully measured individual mean follicular diameters as a function of menstrual age in a group of normal volunteers in natural, unstimulated cycles (n = 18). Follicle diameter (FD) growth, as measured with serial pelvic ultrasonography, can be shown to be essentially linear (mean R2, 0.92) with respect to time up to the point of ovulation.

Two high-affinity ligand binding states of uterine estrogen receptor distinguished by modulation of hydrophobic environment.

The steroid binding function of soluble (cytosolic) estrogen receptors from calf uteri was evaluated under conditions known to modify the extent of hydrophobic interaction with receptor-associated proteins. Receptor preparations were equilibrated into 6 M urea (+/- 0.4 M KCl) buffers and control buffers (+/- 0.