Progesterone and is responsible for approximately 70% of cytochrome P450-mediated progesterone metabolism. Other routes include 6α-, 16α-, and 16β-hydroxylation. However, treatment of women with ketoconazole, a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor, had minimal effects on progesterone levels, producing only a slight and non-significant increase, and this suggests that cytochrome P450 enzymes play only a small role in progesterone metabolism. In women, progesterone levels are relatively low during the preovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, rise after ovulation, and are elevated during the luteal phase, as shown in diagram below. Progesterone levels tend to be less than 2 ng/mL prior to ovulation, and greater
Menstrual synchrony there was no evidence the women in this study synchronized their menstrual cycles. Ziomkiewicz conducted a study with 99 Polish college women living in two dormitories. Thirty six of the women lived in 18 double rooms and sixty three lived in 21 triple rooms. Women recorded their menstrual cycle onsets on menstrual calendars provided to them and 181 days' worth of menstrual cycle data were collected. The mean menstrual cycle length was 30.5 days (SD = 4.56). Based on the mean cycle length of the women in this study, the expected difference by chance in menstrual cycle onset was approximately