New male contraceptive targets sperm, not hormones

In a promising development, scientists have developed a male version of the female contraceptive pill. But unlike the female version, the male version targets the sperms and not the hormones.

Clinical trials conducted by the researchers at the Population Council in New York on the lab rats have shown positive results. But the efficacy of the drug is still to be tested on humans.

Leading the research, Dr. Dolores Mruk said, “We anticipate that this compound could become a male contraceptive for human use."

Medically, sperms are made in the body in a process called spermatogenesis. Throughout spermatogenesis, developing sperm cells remain attached to Sertoli cells via testis. These Sertoli cells are known to nurture the sperm cells till their maturity. If the bond between these two cell types concedes, the sperm cells detach from the seminiferous epithelium resulting into infertility.

The drug Adjudin, is capable of breaking the link between the sperms and the Sertoli cells by dislodging the sperms from the seminiferous epithelium.

However, high dosage of Adjudin has resulted in adverse effects such as liver inflammation and muscle atrophy in small subsets of rats, no serious side effects are seen if low dose is administered. Researchers claim to have developed a novel approach to counter these side effects in humans.

Adjudin is made to specifically target the testis by linking Adjudin to a hormone called FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). The inactive FSH thus merely acts as a carrier thereby facilitating lower doses of the toxic drug.

Under the process the sperms are thus shred before their maturity, leading to complete yet temporary loss of fertility. Once the effect of the drug clears off from the bloodstream, the ability to produce normal level of sperms recoups.

On an average, an adult male produces 150 million sperm cells each day. None of the studies and tests held so far have been able to counter such a whooping count.

With other forms of male contraceptives , some based on altering levels of sex hormones and some not apparently appealing because of their negative effects on masculinity, the non-hormonal contraceptive pill holds a promising position.