Estradiol acetate

Estradiol acetate is a pro-drug ester of Estradiol, a naturally occurring hormone that circulates endogenously within the human body. Estradiol is the most potent form of all mammalian estrogenic steroids and acts as the major female sex hormone. As a pro-drug of estradiol, estradiol acetate therefore has the same downstream effects within the body through binding to the Estrogen Receptor (ER) including ERα and ERβ subtypes, which are located in various tissues including in the breasts, uterus, ovaries, skin, prostate, bone, fat, and brain.

Estradiol is commonly produced with an ester side-chain as endogenous estradiol has very low oral bioavailability on its own (2-10%). First-pass metabolism by the gut and the liver quickly degrades the estradiol molecule before it gets a chance to enter systemic circulation and exert its estrogenic effects . Esterification of estradiol aims to improves absorption and bioavailability after oral administration (such as with Estradiol valerate) or to sustain release from depot intramuscular injections (such as with Estradiol Cypionate) through improved lipophilicity. Following absorption, the esters are cleaved, resulting in the release of endogenous estradiol, or 17β-estradiol. Ester pro-drugs of estradiol are therefore considered to be bioidentical forms of estrogen .

Estradiol acetate is commercially available as Femring, a vaginal ring used for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms and vulvovaginal atrophy due to menopause.

The primary source of estrogen in normally cycling adult women is the ovarian follicle, which secretes 70 to 500 mcg of estradiol daily, depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle. However, after menopause, most endogenous estrogen is produced by conversion of androstenedione, secreted by the adrenal cortex, to estrone by peripheral tissues. Thus, estrone and the sulfate conjugated form, estrone sulfate, are the most abundant circulating estrogens in postmenopausal women . Although circulating estrogens exist in a dynamic equilibrium of metabolic interconversions, estradiol is the principal intracellular human estrogen and is substantially more potent than its metabolites, estrone and estriol at the receptor level. Because of the difference in potency between estradiol and estrone, menopause (and a change in primary hormone from estradiol to estrone) is associated with a number of symptoms associated with this reduction in potency and in estrogenic effects. These include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood changes, irregular menses, chills, and sleeping problems. Administration of synthetic and bioidentical forms of estrogen, such as estradiol acetate, has shown to improve these menopausal symptoms.