Estrogenic substances, also referred to as natural estrogens and sold under the brand name Amniotin among others, is an estrogen medication which was marketed in the 1930s and 1940s and is no longer available.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It was a purified extract of animal material such as horse urine, placenta, and/or amniotic fluid, and contained a non-crystallinemixture of estrogens, including estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-estradiol, and/or equilin.[3][1][7][8][5][9] The medication was thought to contain estrone as its major active ingredient[7] and was described as an estrone-like preparation, or as "essentially estrone".[1][3][5] Estrogenic substances was originally produced from the urine of pregnant women, placenta, and/or amniotic fluid, but by the early 1940s, it was manufactured exclusively from the urine of stallions or pregnant mares, similarly to almost all other estrogen preparations on the market.[8][9][7][1]
Estrogen medications similar to but distinct from estrogenic substances included conjugated estriol (Emmenin) and conjugated estrogens (Premarin).[1] They are also non-crystalline mixtures of estrogens.[1] Estrogenic substances were also distinct from pure crystalline preparations such as estrone, estradiol, estriol, estradiol benzoate, and estradiol dipropionate.[1] The medication should additionally be distinguished from estrogen ovarian extracts, which had little activity and were considered to be essentially inactive.[10][2]
Progynon and Amniotin were both marketed by 1929.[11] Amniotin was originally prepared from the amniotic fluid of cattle, but was later prepared using other sources such as the urine of pregnant mares.[12][9]
^ abcReifenstein EC (1944). "Endocrinology: A Synopsis of Normal and Pathologic Physiology, Diagnostic Procedures, and Therapy". Medical Clinics of North America. 28 (5): 1232–1276. doi:10.1016/S0025-7125(16)36180-6. ISSN0025-7125.
^ abcBarr DP (1940). Modern Medical Therapy in General Practice. William & Wilkins Company. ISBN9780598668332. Complex Estrogenic Preparations. 1. Amniotin (Squibb). This is a highly purified but not crystalline preparation derived from pregnant mares' urine. The chief active ingredient is apparently ketohydroxyestrin (estrone).
^ abGlandular Physiology and Therapy. American Medical Association. 1935. p. 480. Amniotin, E. R. Squibb & Sons: This is an estrogenic preparation originally derived from amniotic fluid; it is not reduced to the crystalline state during manufacture. More recently, according to the firm, the urine of pregnant mares has served as an added source of active material.
