Natural heterocycles as antifertility agents

Abstract

Natural products have shown an unflinching promise as antifertility agents. Interestingly, most of them are heterocyclic in nature. The extraordinary capability of these compounds to mimic the activity of estrogenic compounds imparts them a remarkable characteristic of being able to regulate female fertility. Nitrogen and oxygen heterocycles form the majority of these compounds of which, in majority of cases, the pharmacologically active part of the molecule is non-aromatic, thus non planar, just as is the steroid ring system. This fact may be responsible for their steroid mimicking activity. This review presents the active compounds identified and pharmacologically evaluated till date.