Benzestrol

Benzestrol (INN, BAN) (brand names Chemestrogen, Ocestrol, Octestrol, Octoestrol, Octofollin) is a synthetic, non-steroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group that was formerly used medically but has since been discontinued. The stilbestrol estrogens, the most well-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.

Uses

Benzestrol and other stilbestrol were used as synthetic estrogens in order to prevent premature births. Based on the idea that premature births happened because the mother did not produce enough estrogen on her own, doctors prescribed benzestrol to mothers in order to increase their estrogen levels.

Studies have been done in the past on normal, mature and castrate female rats. Benzestrol produced the same type of estrus in the castrate rat when injected at 0.8 to 1.0 micrograms as when the rat was injected with 2.0 to 2.5 micrograms of estrone. This is significant because less benzestrol could be used to produce the same effect as estrone in increasing estrogen production. It has been used in the past as a nonsteroidal estrogen antagonist.