Male Contraceptive Drug In The Works, Injection Blocked Sperm Production For 20 Weeks In Rats – CBS News
Scientists have discovered a substance that can temporarily block the development of sperm without altering testosterone levels and without causing unwanted side effects.
They hope human trials of a new contraceptive for men based on their discovery could begin within a few years.
Other versions of the ‘male Pill’ are already in development but work by altering hormone levels in the man’s body.
In trials so far these have produced no worrying side effects – however scientists think men may still worry about whether introducing female hormones could harm their virility in some way.
The new approach would therefore avoid this problem. The common perception is that few women would actually believe a man who said he was on the Pill.
However a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2000 found that only two per cent of women said they would not trust their partner to take a male Pill.
Several teams of scientists have therefore been working on trying to develop an equivalent of the female Pill for men.
Until now this has involved using hormones to try to prevent sperm production.
But the new approach reported in the latest edition of the journal Nature Medicine involves a substance called adherin.
It works by interfering with the way cells in the testes help nurture the development of mature sperm.
It blocks the normal bond which develops between immature sperm and tissue called Sertoli cells. This then stops the cells developing into mature sperm which are capable of fertilising an egg.
A study found that when given to rats, sperm production dropped to such low levels as to render them infertile.
However once the drug was stopped, the animals’ sperm production soon returned to normal.
I can hear God saying, “keep your grubby hands off my business!” No side effects…. yet. We’ll see how the trials go and then see the FDA railroad it through the approval. In the end, no one will consider the ethical implication of sex without any purpose but pleasure.
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