A nonsteroidal compound is a drug that is not a steroid nor a steroid derivative. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are distinguished from corticosteroids as a class of anti-inflammatory agents.
Dienestrol, also known as dienoestrol (BAN), is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group which is or was used to treat menopausal symptoms in the United States and Europe. It has been studied for use by rectal administration in the treatment of prostate cancer in men as well. The medication was introduced in the U.S. in 1947 by Schering as Synestrol and in France in 1948 as Cycladiene. Dienestrol is a close analogue of diethylstilbestrol. It has approximately 223% and 404% of the affinity of estradiol at the ERα and ERβ, respectively.
Benzestrol is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group which was formerly used medically but has since been discontinued. The stilbestrol estrogens, the best-known of which is diethylstilbestrol (DES) were used extensively in the mid-1900s and were finally banned by the FDA due to them causing tumors in the children of women who used them.
A nonsteroidal estrogen is an estrogen with a nonsteroidal chemical structure. The most well-known example is the stilbestrol estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES). Although nonsteroidal estrogens formerly had an important place in medicine, they have gradually fallen out of favor following the discovery of toxicities associated with high-dose DES starting in the early 1970s, and are now almost never used. On the other hand, virtually all selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are nonsteroidal, with triphenylethylenes like tamoxifen and clomifene having been derived from DES, and these drugs remain widely used in medicine for the treatment of breast cancer among other indications. In addition to pharmaceutical drugs, many xenoestrogens, including phytoestrogens, mycoestrogens, and synthetic endocrine disruptors like bisphenol A, are nonsteroidal substances with estrogenic activity.
Hexestrol, sold under the brand name Synestrol among others, is a nonsteroidal estrogen which was previously used for estrogen replacement therapy and in the treatment of certain hormone-dependent cancers as well as gynecological disorders but is mostly no longer marketed. It has also been used in the form of esters such as hexestrol diacetate and hexestrol dipropionate. Hexestrol and its esters are taken by mouth, held under the tongue, or via injection into muscle.
Methestrol or methoestrol, also known as promethestrol or promethoestrol (BAN) or as dimethylhexestrol, is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol which is no longer marketed.
Methestrol dipropionate or methoestrol dipropionate, also known as promethestrol dipropionate or promethoestrol dipropionate or as dimethylhexestrol dipropionate, is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol that is or was used clinically. It is the dipropionate form of methestrol, which, in contrast to methestrol dipropionate, was never marketed.
2,8-Dihydroxyhexahydrochrysene (2,8-DHHHC) is a synthetic, nonsteroidal weak estrogen with approximately 1/2,000th the estrogenic potency of the structurally-related estrogen diethylstilbestrol. It is said to be intermediate in structure between estradiol and hexestrol, but conversely to both of them, is drastically less potent in comparison.
Ethamoxytriphetol is a synthetic nonsteroidal antiestrogen that was studied clinically in the late 1950s and early 1960s but was never marketed. MER-25 was first reported in 1958, and was the first antiestrogen to be discovered. It has been described as "essentially devoid of estrogenic activity" and as having "very low estrogenic activity in all species tested". However, some estrogenic effects in the uterus have been observed, so it is not a pure antiestrogen but is, instead, technically a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM). For all intents and purposes, it is a nearly pure antiestrogen, however.
Doisynolic acid is a synthetic, nonsteroidal, orally active estrogen that was never marketed. The reaction of estradiol or estrone with potassium hydroxide, a strong base, results in doisynolic acid as a degradation product, which retains high estrogenic activity, and this reaction was how the drug was discovered, in the late 1930s. The drug is a highly active and potent estrogen by the oral or subcutaneous route. The reaction of equilenin or dihydroequilenin with potassium hydroxide was also found to produce bisdehydrodoisynolic acid, the levorotatory isomer of which is an estrogen with an "astonishingly" high degree of potency, while the dextrorotatory isomer is inactive. Doisynolic acid was named after Edward Adelbert Doisy, a pioneer in the field of estrogen research and one of the discoverers of estrone.
Hexestrol diacetate (JAN) is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol. It is an ester of hexestrol, and was discovered in 1939.
Hexestrol dipropionate, or hexestrol dipropanoate, is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol. It is an ester of hexestrol, and has been known since at least 1931. The drug has been used in the past to inhibit lactation in women.
Hexestrol diphosphate is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol and used as an estrogen and antineoplastic agent in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is a water-soluble ester of hexestrol. The medication has been known since at least 1956.
Furostilbestrol (INN), also known as diethylstilbestrol di(2-furoate) or simply as diesthylstilbestrol difuroate, is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol that was never marketed. It is an ester of diethylstilbestrol and was described in the literature in 1952.
Bisdehydrodoisynolic acid (BDDA), as the (Z)-isomer ( -BDDA), is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen related to doisynolic acid that was never marketed. It is one of the most potent estrogens known, although it has more recently been characterized as a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM). BDDA and other doisynolic acid derivatives display relatively low affinity accompanied by disproportionately high estrogenic potency in vivo, which was eventually determined to be due to transformation into metabolites with greater estrogenic activity. The drug was discovered in 1947 as a degradation product of the reaction of equilenin or dihydroequilenin with potassium hydroxide. It is the seco-analogue of equilenin, while doisynolic acid is the seco-analogue of estrone. These compounds, along with diethylstilbestrol, can be considered to be open-ring analogues of estradiol. The methyl ether of BDDA, doisynoestrol, is also an estrogen, and in contrast to BDDA, has been marketed.
Dianol is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen that was never marketed. It is a dimer and impurity of anol, and was, along with hexestrol, involved in erroneous findings of highly potent estrogenic activity with anol. Although a potent estrogen, it requires a dose of 100 μg to show activity, whereas hexestrol shows activity with a mere dose of 0.2 μg.
Hexestrol dicaprylate, or dioctanoylhexestrol, is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group related to diethylstilbestrol that is no longer marketed. It is a long-acting ester of hexestrol.
ICI-85966, also known as diethylstilbestrol (DES) bis(di carbamate), is a synthetic, nonsteroidal estrogen and cytostatic antineoplastic agent of the stilbestrol group and a nitrogen mustard ester of diethylstilbestrol (DES) which was developed for the treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer but was never marketed.
Triphenylchloroethylene, or triphenylchlorethylene, also known as chlorotriphenylethylene or as phenylstilbene chloride, is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the triphenylethylene group that was marketed in the 1940s for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, vaginal atrophy, lactation suppression, and all other estrogen-indicated conditions.
