the lhrh antagonist peptides of the present invention may be utilized in the treatment of prostatic cancer . the antagonist is titrated to a dosage required to simulate castration levels in order to substantially reduce the circulating androgen level . the peptides of the present invention may be utilized alone , or in combination with anti - androgens such as flutamide , cyproterone acetate , and ketoconazole . these anti - androgen preparations are required where significant androgen production occurs in the adrenal gland . since adrenal production of androgens are not affected by lhrh anti - androgens may be combined with the peptides of the present invention in order to block androgen activity from adrenal origin . the lhrh antagonist peptides of the present invention may be used as an alternative to ovariectomy in the palliative treatment of breast cancer of premenopausal women . because of the relatively low level of estrogen in post menopausal women , and in women who have undergone ovariectomies , any reduction of this hormone through utilization of the lhrh antagonist peptide of the present invention would be of limited value . the peptides of the present invention must be titrated so as to achieve profound pituitary and gonadal suppression . such suppression occurs , as discussed above , with a daily average dosage range of about 0 . 1 to 1 . 0 mg / day . the peptides of the present invention may be utilized in the treatment of endometriosis ; the ectopic occurrence of endometrial tissue generally within the abdominal cavity . by suppressing gonadal steroid secretion , growth of endometrial tissue decreases to the level of atrophy , thus effectively reducing endometrial tissue island formation within the myometrium or in the pelvic cavity outside the uterus . thus an alternative to anterior pituitary drugs such as danazol ( pregna - 2 , 4 - dien - 20 - yno [ 2 , 3d ] isoxazol - 17 - ol ), and surgical excisions of implants through laparoscopy , in a method of treating endometriosis is provided wherein cardiovascular side effects and mild androgenic effects associated with such drugs are avoided , and the need for surgical excision is either eliminated or reduced . the lhrh antagonist peptides of the present invention additionally provide a method for treating uterine leiomyoma in pre - menopausal women . by titrating patient estrogen levels to those levels found in post menopausal women , control of tumor growth , and regression is possible . thus the peptides of the present invention provide an alternative to the only known ( non - surgical ) existing medical treatment of uterine leiomyoma ; lhrh agonist therapy . complete anterior pituitary suppression is required in order to ensure effective treatment of uterine leiomyoma . the lhrh antagonist peptides of the present invention provide a method for treating polycystic ovarian disease . the increased androgen secretion associated with this disease may be associated with either ovarian or adrenal secretion . since adrenal secretion is not responsive to variations in gonadotropic hormone levels , the lhrh antagonist of the present invention may alternatively be used as a diagnostic tool in differentiating the source of elevated plasma levels of androgen . by administering a castration level of the peptides of the present invention to a subject with polycystic ovarian disease , the level of androgen will profoundly decrease if ovarian tissue ( lh - responsive tissue ) is responsible for the unusually high levels of androgen . if , on the other hand , no substantial decrease in androgen level is detected , it is the adrenal gland which is responsible for the elevated androgen levels . if the ovarian tissue is responsible for elevated levels of androgen , the lhrh antagonist peptide of the present invention may be utilized , ( at a castration level ), in order to control polycystic disease and associated ache and hirsutism . lhrh antagonist peptides of the present invention may be prepared utilizing automated peptide synthesis techniques well known to the art . the following examples disclose two methods utilizing standard techniques , however , one skilled in the art may readily adapt other techniques to different synthesizers . a synthesis of an lhrh antagonist peptide according to the present invention was carried out by the solid - phase - method on a benzhydrylamine resin on a polystyrene support using the labortec peptide synthesizer ( sp 650 , labortec ag , 4416 - bubendorf , switzerland ) using fmoc - amino acids ( fmoc = 9 - fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl ) and following the manufacturers instructions . optionally boc - amino acids ,( boc - t - butyloxycarbonyl ) can be used . both natural and unnatural amino acids were obtained by bachem ag , bubendorf , switzerland . purification of the crude peptide was accomplished by gel permeation chromatography on sephadex g 25 followed by permeation chromatography on sephadex g 25 followed by preparative hplc purification on silica gel . the following peptide was thus obtained . seq id no . : 1 wherein the alanine residue at sequence position 1 is n - acetyl - d - 3 -( 2 - naphthyl )- ala ; the phenyl - alanine residue at sequence position 2 is d - 3 -( 4 - chlorophenyl )- alanine ; the alanine residue at sequence position 3 is d - 3 ( 3 - pyridyl )- ala ; the lysine residue at sequence position 6 is d - 6 - carbamoyl lysine ; the lysine residue at sequence position number 8 is nε - isopropyl - lys ; and the alanine residue at sequence position 10 is d - ala - nh2 . the molecular weight of the lhrh antagonist so synthesized is 1459 . 2 g / mol . the amino acid analysis yielded the following results : serine 0 . 92 , proline 1 . 07 , alanine 0 . 98 , tyrosine 1 . 03 . the product is freely soluble in water . utilizing substantially the same procedure as in example 1 , the following lhrh antagonist of the present invention was obtained . seq id no . : 2 wherein the alanine residue at sequence position i is n - acetyl - d - 3 -( 2 - naphthyl )- ala ; the phenylalanine residue at sequence position 2 is d - 3 -( 4 - chlorophenyl ) alanine ; the alanine residue at sequence position 3 is d - 3 ( 3 - pyridyl )- ala ; the lysine residue at sequence position 6 is d - 6 - carbamoyl lysine ; the lysine residue at sequence position number 8 is nε - isopropyl - lys ; and the proline residue at sequence position 9 is pro - nhch 2 ch 3 . the lhrh antagonist peptide of example 1 was converted into a slightly soluble pamoate salt . an aqueous solution of the peptide of example 1 was mixed with an aqueous solution of sodium pamoate . the resultant mixture was then filtered so as to allow collection of a sparingly soluble peptide pamoate salt which was thus formed . the water soluble peptide of example 2 was converted into a sparingly soluble stearate salt by mixing an aqueous solution of said peptide with an alcoholic ( ethanol ) solution of stearic acid and filtering the resulting stearate salt thus formed . six rats were utilized to test the lhrh antagonist peptide of example 1 of the present invention for anaphylactoid properties . each of the six rats was injected with 5 mg / kg of the test peptide . no mortality or other signs of anaphylactoid reactions were observed over a 24 hour period . the effect of an lhrh antagonist peptide of example 1 of the present invention was compared to the effect of &# 34 ; antide &# 34 ;, cf . a . ljungqvist et al ., biochem . biophys . res . comm ., 148 , 849 - 858 ( 1987 )., an lhrh antagonist of the prior art . both lhrh antagonists were intermuscularly injected into 6 rats at a dosage of 300 mcg / kg . the following results were obtained : table 1______________________________________group 0 hr 24 hr 48 hr______________________________________saline 3 . 60 ± 2 . 04 2 . 74 ± 1 . 05 3 . 41 ± 2 . 14i . m .&# 34 ; antide &# 34 ; 3 . 35 ± 2 . 51 0 . 78 ± 0 . 37 ** 1 . 96 ± 0 . 95300 μg / kgi . m . peptide of 5 . 46 ± 3 . 32 0 . 067 ± 0 . 030 *** 0 . 84 ± 0 . 28 * example 1300 μg / kgi . m . ______________________________________ as can be seen by the above data in table 1 , the lhrh antagonist peptide of example 1 is more than about ten times as effective as antide , an lhrh antagonist of the prior art , at 24 hour suppression of plasma testosterone in rats . the data for 48 hours indicates the peptide of example 1 is more than twice as effective as antide . for the intended therapeutic uses , the peptides of the invention are formulated in suitable pharmaceutical compositions , using well known techniques and excipients such as disclosed , for instance , in remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences handbook , mack pub . co ., n . y . usa , xvii ed . the compositions of the invention will be preferably suited for the parenteral or intranasal delivery : for the parenteral administrations , pharmaceutical delivery systems consisting of a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer as a matrix are particularly preferred whereas for the intranasal delivery the combined use of pharmaceutically acceptable peptidase inhibitors and / or pharmaceutically acceptable mucosal penetration enhancers ( surfactants , quaternary ammonium salts , betaine derivatives and the like ) is preferred . the daily dosage peptides will range from 0 . 1 to 1 mg of the peptides of the invention , suitably formulated . while it is apparent that the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated , it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art , and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and embodiments as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention . __________________________________________________________________________sequence listing ( 1 ) general information :( iii ) number of sequences : 2 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 1 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 10 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( ii ) molecule type : peptide ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 1 : alaphealasertyrlysleulysproala1510 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 2 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 9 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( ii ) molecule type : peptide ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 2 : alaphealasertyrlysleulyspro15
a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone antagonist peptide is provided which effectively decreases plasma levels of estrogens and androgens . the peptide exhibits increased levels of potency while at the same time minimizing histamine releasing properties , vascular permeability , hypotension , poor water solubility an inadequate duration of action associated with luteinizing hormone releasing hormone antagonist peptides of the past .