Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2019 May;99(5):306-311.
doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2019.01.003. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Pharmacokinetics of the 1.5 mg levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive in women with normal, obese and extremely obese body mass index

Melissa Natavio  1 , Frank Z Stanczyk  2 , Emilie A G Molins  3 , Anita Nelson  2 , William J Jusko  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Pharmacokinetics of the 1.5 mg levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive in women with normal, obese and extremely obese body mass index

Melissa Natavio et al. Contraception. 2019 May.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the pharmacokinetics (PK) of levonorgestrel after 1.5 mg oral doses (LNG-EC) in women with normal, obese and extremely obese body mass index (BMI).

Study design: The 1.5 mg LNG dose was given to healthy, reproductive-age, ovulatory women with normal BMI (mean 22.0), obese (mean 34.4), and extremely obese (mean 46.6 kg/m2) BMI. Total serum LNG was measured over 0 to 96 h by radioimmunoassay while free and bioavailable LNG were calculated. The maximum concentration (Cmax), time to maximum concentration (Tmax), and area under the curve (AUC) of LNG were assessed. Pharmacokinetic parameters calculated included half-life (t1/2), clearance (CL) and volume of distribution (Vss).

Results: Ten normal-BMI, 11 obese-BMI, 5 extremely obese-BMI women were studied. After LNG-EC, mean total LNG metrics were lower in the obese and extremely obese groups compared to normal (Cmax 10.5 and 10.5 versus 16.2 ng/mL, both p<.01; AUC 208 and 197 versus 360 h × ng/mL, both p<.05). Mean bioavailable LNG Cmax was lower in obese (7.03 ng/mL, p<.05) and extremely obese (7.53 ng/ml, p=.198) compared to normal BMI (9.39 ng/mL). Mean bioavailable LNG AUC values were lower in obese and extremely obese compared to normal (131.6 and 127.5 vs 185.0 h × ng/mL, p<.05 for both).

Conclusions: Obese and extremely obese women were exposed to lower total and bioavailable LNG than normal BMI women.

Implications: Lower 'bioavailable' (free plus albumin bound) LNG AUC in obese women may play a role in the purported reduced efficacy of LNG-EC in obese users.

Keywords: BAI; BMI; Emergency contraception; Levonorgestrel; Obesity; Pharmacokinetics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mean Concentration-time profiles of LNG for in all BMI groups.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Comparison of the noncompartmental pharmacokinetic parameters in the three groups. Horizontal bars depict statistical comparisons. (ns – not significant; *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001; N: normal-weight, O: obese weight, E: extremely obese-weight)
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Changes is SHBG and albumin concentrations over time by BMI groups and corresponding changes in mean free and bioavailable LNG percentage and AUC in relation to BMI
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Glasier A, Cameron ST, Blithe D, et al. Can we identify women at risk of pregnancy despite using emergency contraception? Data from randomized trials of ulipristal acetate and levonorgestrel. Contraception. 2011;84(4):363–7. - PubMed
    1. Kapp N, Abitbol JL, Mathe H, et al. Effect of body weight and BMI on the efficacy of levonorgestrel emergency contraception. Contraception. 2015;91(2):97–104. - PubMed
    1. Festin MP, Peregoudov A, Seuc A, Kiarie J, Temmerman M. Effect of BMI and body weight on pregnancy rates with LNG as emergency contraception: analysis of four WHO HRP studies. Contraception. 2017;95(1):50–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gemzell-Danielsson K, Kardos L, von Hertzen H. Impact of bodyweight/body mass index on the effectiveness of emergency contraception with levonorgestrel: a pooled-analysis of three randomized controlled trials. Curr Med Res Opin. 2015;31(12):2241–8. - PubMed
    1. Praditpan P, Hamouie A, Basaraba CN, et al. Pharmacokinetics of levonorgestrel and ulipristal acetate emergency contraception in women with normal and obese body mass index. Contraception. 2017;95(5):464–9. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances