Eleven compounds, related to azasteroids, at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight have been screened for antifertility effect in rats when given orally from Days 1 to 7 of pregnancy. An antifertility effect was observed in ten out of thirteen animals with 5-[(2-chlorobenzylidine)-amino]-isoquinoline.
A series of five anils and a phenylamine derivative of one of them have been tested for antifertility effect in female albino rats at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg administered orally from Days 1 to 7 of pregnancy. It was found that N-(2-chloro-l-naphthylidene)-3-amino-2:6-lutidene inhibited fertility in nine out of ten animals. The mechanism of action of this compound and the structure/action relationship of the present series of anils is discussed.
The alcoholic extract of the roots of Polygonum hydropiper Linn. was fractionated by column adsorption chromatography. The various fractions obtained were tested for antifertility activity in female albino rats. Petroleum ether, petroleum ether +benzene (1:1 v/v) and benzene +chloroform (1:1 v/v) fractions prevented pregnancy in 8/10, 6/10 and 6/10 albino rats, respectively, while the first two fractions also caused resorption of implants by the completion of term. The other chromatographic fractions did not exhibit any antifertility activity.
Daucus carota Linn., a herb belonging to the Umbelliferae family, has been reported to possess antifertility activity (Chaudhury, 1966). Garg & Garg (1971a) reported encouraging antifertility activity in the alcoholic and aqueous extracts of the seeds of this herb in female albino rats. No work seems to have been done on the chromatographic fractionation of the different extracts of the seeds of this herb. It was considered worthwhile to undertake this study and the different fractions obtained were tested for antifertility activity in female albino rats.
The air-dried powdered seeds of Daucus carota Linn. were successively extracted with petroleum ether (b.p. 60 to 80° C), 95% alcohol and distilled water in a Soxhlet apparatus. The extracts were evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure. The residues obtained from the petroleum ether
The mechanism by which an intra-uterine device in one horn of the rat uterus prevents implantation in that horn is not known. It has been suggested that histamine has a role to play in the implantation of the fertilized ovum (Shelesnyak, 1952). Shelesnyak, Kraicer & Zeilmaker (1963) have indicated that on the latter part of the 3rd day after successful mating in rats there is an oestrogenic upsurge which triggers off histamine release and this is essential for successful implantation. It has been known for a long time that there is a correlation between the histamine content of a tissue and the mast cell count (Riley & West, 1953). Mast cells have been demonstrated in the uterine tissue of golden hamsters (Harvey, 1964), guinea-pigs (Iversen, 1962), ferrets (Buchanan, 1966) and
