This is a new drug developed by US scientists that was tested on mice.
The condom and vasectomy are male contraceptive methods. There are also other methods under development in scientific laboratories. One of them manages to temporarily stop the advance of the sperm.
If women have the morning-after pill, in the future men may have access to the “hour after” male contraceptive. The development has so far worked in animal research in the United States.
It is a contraceptive developed by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. It managed to stop spermatozoa and prevent pregnancies in preclinical models.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that an à la carte male contraceptive is possible.
It was 100% effective in preventing pregnancy in the first two hours after administration. Its effectiveness dropped to 91% in the first three hours.
According to study co-authors Dr. Jochen Buck and Lonny Levin, Weill Cornell Medicine professors of pharmacology, the discovery could be a game changer for contraception.
Because they remembered that condoms, which have been around for about 2,000 years, and vasectomies have been the only options for men until now.
Research on male oral contraceptives was stagnant. That’s because potential male contraceptives must meet a much higher standard for safety and side effects, Levin explained.
He explained that since men do not run the risks associated with pregnancy, it is assumed that they will have a low tolerance for the possible side effects of contraceptives.
The researchers had not initially set out to find a male contraceptive. They were friends and colleagues with complementary knowledge.
But Levin challenged Buck to isolate a cell signaling protein called adenyl cyclase (AC), also known as adenylate cyclase that had long eluded biochemists.
The new Nature Communications study shows that a single dose of a protein inhibitor, called TDI-11861, immobilizes sperm in mice for up to two and a half hours and that the effects persist in the female reproductive tract after mating.
At three hours, some sperm begin to regain motility; at 24 hours, almost all the spermatozoa have recovered normal movement.
TDI-11861-treated male mice paired with female mice displayed normal mating behavior, but failed to fertilize the females despite 52 different mating attempts.
In contrast, male mice treated with an inactive control substance fertilized nearly a third of their female partners.
In addition, Balbach noted that it takes weeks to reverse the effects of other hormonal and non-hormonal male contraceptives in development.
He stated that since the protein inhibitors wear off in a matter of hours and men would only take them when and as often as necessary, they could make day-to-day decisions about their fertility.