Scientists from the US have discovered and successfully tested on mice a substance that could lead to the creation of a contraceptive for men, acting quickly and in just a few hours – a day at most.
Researchers led by Dr. Melanie Bolbach of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, supported by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Nature Communications, said that in the future, men will be able to take this contraceptive just before sexual activity and their fertility will be restored. The next day.
The researchers found that the substance TDI-11861 immobilizes spermatozoa and prevents their maturation without compromising sexual function. This substance temporarily deactivates an enzyme (soluble adenylate cyclase – sAC) that is vital for sperm to “swim” and mature, pass through the female reproductive tract and fertilize an egg.
As experiments have shown, although male mice that were given this substance copulated several times with females, pregnancy did not occur. No side effects were observed either in males or in their females. After about three hours, the effect of the substance weakened, and the male rodents regained their fertility. The conclusion of the study is that “soluble adenylate cyclase inhibitors have the potential to become a safe, available at any time, non-hormonal and reversible oral contraceptive for men.”
To date, male contraceptive methods have been limited to the use of condoms and surgical sterilization through vasectomy. Efforts to develop male contraceptives in pill form have so far been hampered by poor efficacy, slow action, or side effects. The new substance shows great promise, but it has yet to be tested in humans. The effectiveness of the contraceptive tested on animals was 100% during the first two hours after administration and 91% during the first three hours.
The return of fertility in men was always completed within 24 hours. After continuous use of the substance (injectable or oral) for six weeks, no side effects were observed.
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