EFFECTS OF DEPO-PROVERA ON CARBOHYDRATE, LIPIDS AND VITAMIN METABOLISM

A metabolic study was conducted in two groups of women receiving medroxyprogesterone (DMPA) as an injectable contraceptive. One group consisted of 12 healthy non-lactating women in a hospital setting; the other a field study in a rural area of 72 lactating women with varying degress of sub-optimal nutrition. The study parameters included carbohydrate, lipids and vitamins. These were assessed prior to initiation of treatment, at intervals, and at the end of year of DMPA usage. Biochemical and radio-immunoassay procedures employed (standardized and quality controlled by the WHO Human Reproduction Unit) included glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipids, vitamin A, β-carotene, B1, B2, b6, B12, folate, cortisol and insulin. Insulin was the only parameter to show a significant alteration. It is concluded that, irrespective of the user's nutritional status, the employment of DMPA as an injectable contraceptive caused no discernable adverse metabolic side-effects. © 1979.