Coptic involvement
In the 14th century, the Muslim Egyptian religious scholar Taj-al-Din Abu Nasr Abdal-Wahhab al-Subki discussed eunuchs in his book Kitab Muid al-Niam wa Mubid al-Niqam (Arabic: كتاب معيد النعم ومبيد النقم), a title that has been translated as Book of the Guide to [Divine] Benefits and Averting of [Divine] Vengeance and also as Book of Tutor of Graces and Annihilator of Misfortunes. In a chapter dedicated to eunuchs, Al-Subki made "the clear implication that eunuchness is itself an office," Shaun Marmon explained, adding that al-Subki had specified occupational subgroups for the tawashiya [eunuchs]: the zimam watched over women, and the muqaddam al-mamalik over adolescent boys.Edmund Andrews of Northwestern University, in an 1898 article called "Oriental Eunuchs" in the American Journal of Medicine, refers to Coptic priests in "Abou Gerhè in Upper Egypt" castrating slave boys. Coptic castration of slaves was discussed by Peter Charles Remondino, in his book History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present, published in 1900. He refers to the "Abou-Gerghè" monastery in a place he calls "Mount Ghebel-Eter". He adds details not mentioned by Andrews such as the insertion of bamboo into the victim. Bamboo was used with Chinese eunuchs.
However, there was a higher incidence of injection site pain with subcutaneous autoinjection than with intramuscular injection (37.3% vs. 8.2%). Distribution
OHPC is extensively bound to plasma proteins, of which include albumin. Unlike progesterone and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, OHPC has very low affinity for corticosteroid-binding globulin (less than 0.01% of that of cortisol). Progesterone and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone have low affinity for sex hormone-binding globulin, and for this reason, only a very small fraction of them (less than 0.5%) is bound to this protein in the circulation. Metabolism
OHPC appears to be metabolized primarily by the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. It may also be metabolized by CYP3A7 in fetal liver and the placenta. Unlike progesterone, OHPC is not metabolized by traditional steroid-transforming enzymes and does not form similar metabolites. The metabolism of OHPC is by reduction, hydroxylation, and conjugation, including glucuronidation, sulfation, and acetylation. The caproate ester of OHPC is not cleaved during metabolism, so 17α-hydroxyprogesterone is not formed from OHPC. As such, OHPC is not a prodrug of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, nor of progesterone.OHPC has been found to have an elimination half-life of 7.8 days when given by intramuscular injection in an oil-based formulation to non-pregnant women. Its total duration is said to be 10 to 14 days, which is much longer than the duration of intramuscularly administered progesterone in an oil formulation (2 to 3 days). In pregnant women, the elimination half-life of OHPC appears to be longer, about 16 or 17 days.