Judgements of attractiveness of the opposite sex and nostril differences in self-rated mood: The effects of androstenol.

Androstenol has been reported to influence judgements of attractiveness and to affect participants' mood. In the present study, participants were asked to sniff androstenol or a control odour (pure ethanol) unilaterally with the left or right nostril. Subsequently, they rated the attractiveness of photographs of the opposite sex and their own feelings on four mood scales. Participants rated the photographs as significantly more attractive after sniffing androstenol compared with the control odour. This did not depend upon androstenol being perceived as pleasant. Androstenol made male participants feel more lively, and both male and female participants more sexy, when sniffed through the right compared with the left nostril. Participants rated themselves as more irritable and aggressive when exposed to androstenol through the left nostril. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of arousal on attraction and in the context of current theories of hemispheric differences in emotion.

Clinical observation of combined oral contraceptives drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (Ⅱ) in the treatment of dysmenorrhea in Chinese women / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (Ⅱ) in Chinese women with dysmenorrhea.Methods:This was a single-arm, open-label, interventional, multicenter, post-authorization safety/effectiveness study of drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (Ⅱ) across 6 treatment cycles, a total of 526 patients were included in the dysmenorrhea subgroup. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to assess the severity of menstrual pain. Secondary outcomes included unintended pregnancies, bleeding pattern, cycle control and safety.Results:After treated with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (Ⅱ), VAS of pain had decreased significantly compared with baselines [(49.5±23.7) vs (32.3±24.9) vs (20.7±19.4) vs (18.4±18.7) mm, P<0.01]. From the second cycle to the fifth cycle, the incidence of scheduled bleeding increased from 93.9% (450/479) to 96.4% (431/447). The duration of scheduled bleeding decreased from (5.7±2.7) to (5.4±1.8) days. The incidence of intermenstrual bleeding decreased from 9.0% (43/479) to 5.6% (25/447). 17.5% (92/526) patients reported adverse drug reactions, most frequently reported adverse events were breast pain, nausea, breast swelling, headache, and uterine bleeding. No death occurred during the study. Conclusion:Drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets (Ⅱ) is effective for the treatment of dysmenorrhea and has good safety.

Efficacy and safety of a combined oral contraceptive containing drospirenone 3 mg and ethinylestradiol 20 μg in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder：a randomized, double blind placebo-controlled study / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of a new low-dose oral contraceptive pill (YAZ) containing drospirenone 3 mg and ethinylestradiol 20 μg with placebo in reducing symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Methods This multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial consisted of 2 run-in and 3 treatment cycles (84 days) with daily symptom charting; 187 women with symptoms of PMDD were randomized to either placebo group (n=94) or YAZ group (n=93), and assessed with daily record of severity of problems scale (DRSP) and clinical global impressions scale (CGI) before, during and after the treatments. Hormones were administered for 24 days, followed by 4 days of inactive pills. Results Compared with baseline level of DRSP, both groups got improvement after treatment; the YAZ group (median-28.7, range:-82.5 to 2.3) had greater improvement than that in the placebo group (median-23.7, range:-86.0 to 11.8), while there was not significant difference (P>0.05). The main adverse effects of YAZ included intermenstrual bleeding [13% (12/93) versus 3% (3/94)], menorrhagia [9% (8/93) versus 1%(1/94)], nausea [5%(5/93) versus 4%(4/94)] and skin rash [4%(4/93) versus 2%(2/94)]. Conclusions YAZ could improve symptoms of PMDD better than placebo, while without statistic significance in this study. The most common adverse effects are intermenstrual bleeding, menorrhagia, nausea and rash.

Evaluation the efficacy and safety of estradiol and drospirenone tablets in the treatment of menopausal symptoms among postmenopausal Chinese healthy women:a randomized,multi-center,double-blind,placebo-controlled clinical study / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To study the efficacy and safety of estradiol and drospirenone tablets (Angeliq)in treatment of menopausal symptoms among postmenopausal Chinese healthy women.Methods Total 244 postmenopausal Chinese healthy women who had moderate to severe hot flushes were randomly assigned for 16 weeks in this randomized multi-center double-blind placebo-controlled study.During the trial.the follow-up visits were conducted at week 4,8,12,16 of treatment and 2 weeks after treatment respectively.Height,weight,vital signs,hot flushes,other relevant menopausal symptoms and vaginal bleeding were observed in each follow-up visit,while the clinical global impression scale Was assessed at 16 weeks as well.Results It showed that hot flushes were reduced significantly more in observation group than that in placebo group ( P＜0.01 ), although both treatments were effective. The absolute values of mean severity index of total hot flushes decreased by - 0. 6± 0. 5 in observation group and - 0. 4 ± 0. 4 in placebo group from baseline respectively, which reached significant difference ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). However, the absolute values of mean severity index of moderate to severe hot flushes decreased by - 0. 6± 0. 8 in observation group and -0. 3± 0.6 in placebo group from baseline respectively, which had no significant difference (P ＞ 0. 05 ).After 16 weeks treatment, it also showed that estradiol and drospirenone had significant better efficacy than placebo on moderate to severe sweating, vaginal dryness and clinical global impression scale (P ＜0. 01 ).During the trial, blood pressure in observation group was stable. The rate of vaginal bleeding in observation group was higher than that in the placebo group, especially during the week 4 to week 8 when 48. 9% (87/178) in observation group and 10. 7% (6/56) in placebo group of patients bled. Although the cumulative amenorrhea rate of observation group was lower than that of placebo group in each cycle (28 days), it increased gradually along with duration of the treatment. The commonest adverse event in observation group was breast tenderness which accounted for 12.0% (22/183 ). The level of serum potassium was in the normal range in observation group mostly. Meanwhile, the other adverse events rate was low. Serious adverse events reported in this trial were assessed as not study drug related or as unlikely study drug related. Conclusion Estradiol and drospirenone tablets which could effectively alleviate menopausal symptoms in postmeuopausal Chinese healthy women is a novel hormone replacement therapy regimen with high safety and efficacy.

Efficacy and safety of drospirenone-ethinylestradiol on contraception in healthy Chinese women: a multicenter randomized controlled trial / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To evaluate the contraception efficacy, mode of bleeding, side effects and other positive effects of drospirenone-ethinylestradiol (Yasmin) in healthy Chinese women. Methods This was a multicenter, randomized, control study of 768 healthy Chinese women who consulted about contraception. The subjects were randomized into Yasmin group (30 μg ethinylestradiol plus 3 mg drospirenone, 573 cases) or desogestrel group (30 μg ethinylestradiol plus 150 μg desogestrel, 195 cases) with the ratio of 3: 1. Each individual was treated for 13 cycles. Further visits were required at cycle 4, cycle 7, cycle 10 and cycle 13 of treatment. Weight, height, body mass index were evaluated at each visit. The menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ) was given to the women at baseline, visit 3 (cycle 7) and visit 5 (after cycle 13). Results The values of basal features were similar between two groups (P> 0.05). The Pearl index (method failure) of Yasmin was 0. 208/hundred women year which was lower than that of desogestrel (0. 601/hundred women year). The mode of bleeding was similar between two groups after trial without showing any significant difference. According to MDQ subscale, the improvement of water retention and increasing appetite during inter-menstrual period and water retention and general well-being during menstrual period in the Yasmin group ( -0. 297, -0. 057, 0. 033, 0. 150 respectively) was more obvious than that in the desogestrel group ( - 0. 108, 0. 023, 0. 231, - 0. 023 respectively) with a significant difference (P < 0. 05 ). Some other values which improved in beth two groups, especially the improvement of breast tenderness and pain and skin abnormality in Yasmin group (18.0%, 89/494; 12. 6%, 62/494) was more distinct than that in desogestrel group (11.3%, 19/168; 5.4%, 9/168). The mean weight increased in desogestrel group (0. 57 kg) while it decreased in Yasmin group ( -0. 28 kg) with a significant difference (P < 0. 01 ). Conclusions Both Yasmin and desogestrel have good efficacy on contraception and similar modes of menstrual bleeding. Yasmin is better than desogestrel in terms of weight control and premenstrual syndrome of oral contraceptive.