The pharmacology of progesterone, a progestogen medication and naturally occurring steroid hormone, concerns its pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and various routes of administration.[1][2]
Progesterone is a naturally occurring and bioidentical progestogen, or an agonist of the progesterone receptor, the biological target of progestogens like endogenous progesterone.[1] Progesterone also has antimineralocorticoid and inhibitory neurosteroid activity, whereas it appears to have little or no glucocorticoid or antiandrogenic activity and has no androgenic activity.[1] Because of its progestogenic activity, progesterone has functional antiestrogenic effects in certain tissues such as the uterus, cervix, and vagina.[1] In addition, progesterone has antigonadotropic effects due to its progestogenic activity and can inhibit fertility and suppress sex hormone production.[1] Progesterone differs from progestins (synthetic progestogens) like medroxyprogesterone acetate and norethisterone, with implications for pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics as well as efficacy, tolerability, and safety.[1]
Progesterone can be taken by mouth, in through the vagina, and by injection into muscle or fat, among other routes.[1] A progesterone vaginal ring and progesterone intrauterine device are also available as pharmaceutical products.[3][4]