Premarin

Premarin is a mixtureof estrogensisolated from mare'surine(PREgnant MARes' urINe) made by WyethPharmaceuticals. Premarin has been one of the most widely used drugs in the United States of America. Premarin became the form of estrogen most commonly used for hormone replacement therapy. The major forms of estrogen in Premarin are estrone(>50%), equilin(15-25%) and equilenin. The estrogens in Premarin are often called "conjugated equine estrogens" (CEE) because the estrogen moleculesare generally present with hydrophilicside-groups attached such as sulfate. Thus, estrone sulfateis actually the major molecule in Premarin. Estrone sulfate is easily absorbedinto the bloodafter Premarin pillsare taken by women. Estrone sulfate is convertedto estradiol, an active estrogen normally found in women. It is not clear if estrogens such as equilin that are foreign to the human body have effects in women that are significantly different from the estrogens like estradiol that are normally made in the human body.

Premarin is the subject of much contention. Animal rightsactivists claim that animal husbandryand urine collection methods used in Premarin's production cause undue stress and suffering to the maresinvolved, and note the overabundance of slaughter-bound foalsproduced by the industryas an additional problem.

External links

• Premarin information at the FDAwebsite [1].
• Information page of the manufacturer [2].
• Project AWARE webpage for Premarin [3].

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premarin Wikipedia article Premarin.