Male Contraceptive Drug In The Works

Scientists report promising results with a male contraceptive drug tested on rats.

The drug, called Adjudin, is a long way from human use. But lab tests on rats showed no signs of side effects, and the drug's effects wore off in 20 weeks.

The researchers included Chuen-yan Cheng, PhD, of the Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research. The Population Council is a New York-based international nonprofit organization that conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research.

About Adjudin

Basically, Adjudin nips wannabe sperm cells in the bud. Those cells, called germ cells, ordinarily develop into sperm. But they need the help of other cells, called Sertoli cells, to reach that destiny.

Adjudin interferes with the process.

Cheng's team previously reported from other animal tests that Adjudin, given orally by itself, was too toxic to be a suitable contraceptive because it caused liver inflammation and muscle shrinkage (atrophy).

So the scientists bundled Adjudin with a synthetic version of the sex hormone FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and injected it into the bellies of four male rats.

The researchers played matchmaker four, six, 12, and 20 weeks later, putting the treated rats in cages with virgin female rats for two to four days.

For comparison, they put male rats that hadn't gotten the contraceptive in other cages with female rats.

The male and female rats mated, as expected.

All the male rats that had gotten the contraceptive shots were infertile four and six weeks after treatment. Their fertility resumed 20 weeks after getting the shots. That shows the contraceptive is "reversible," the researchers write.

In comparison, all the female rats that mated with the untreated male rats gave birth to baby rats.

No side effects were reported in the treated rats.

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SOURCES: Mruk, D. Nature Medicine, Oct. 29, 2006; advance online publication. WebMD Medical News: "Gene Therapy Offers Hope to Infertile Men." News release, Nature and the Nature research journals.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang

[evohollywood-2009]

Bluestardad,

You are an ungrateful idiot. "Cure anything?" Why do you think the average American life expectancy has more than doubled in the last 150 years? Effective cures and therapies for every type of ailment are discovered on an almost daily basis. Have you failed to notice that it is no longer commonplace for thousands of people a year to die from the common cold?

Evan

[bluestardad]

HEY MEDICAL COMMUNITY, CURE ANYTHING THEN GET BACK TO ME! you pimps

I think this is a great step forward for males and females both. Female contraceptives have such severe side effects, because of the way they work, that many women would rather risk not using them. As I understand it, a male contraceptive pill would work in a different way and not have those nasty side effects.

I don't believe any of that crud about trusting or not trusting a partner with contraception. It has nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with responsibility. If you, personally, do not want children, then it is up to you, personally, to ensure that you do not have them, whether it be by condoms, abstinence, or pills. If the thought of putting on a condom, or taking a pill, turns you off, then you aren't mature enough to be having *** anyway. Grow up, then you can play the adult games. (though I don't mean to imply that a relationship is play, lol)

[radil06]

Let's sit back and really think about this, putting stupid, "there are better things doctors could be doing" comments aside. Think about the potential impact, as commented on above, nearly equal to that of the release of the female contraceptive in the '60s. When you actually analyze this concept on a biological basis you should come to the realization that a male contraceptive will not only be as effective as the female version, but actually more effective. Oral contraceptives rely on hormonal imbalances to prevent the development of the egg during ovulation. As stated, this male contraceptive actually cuts off the nourishing support system of a maturing sperm cell. Think about a tree in your yard. As the temp. cools, and the leaves fall, a hibernation/stagnation of growth and production occurs. This is female oral contraception. The 'organism' is still alive, but the function is prohibited. Now what happens if you cut of the water supply? It dies. This is essentially male contraception. The tree could do some growth through self-stored sugars and so on, but this is just a model. The point is the effectiveness. But until we know more, who knows if every 'tree' will die. It seems plausible.

[catt42701]

No such thing as "safe" ***. To prevent conception abstinance is the only way. Can't even play around by rubbing together because pentatration is not necessary for conception. You may have a chance at preventing conception if both sexes are on contraceptives and there is a condom or two used. I still wouldn't preach for casual *** in any way or form in this day and age. Too much is known about STD's to think casual ses even with contraceptives is smart. It is still more dangerous for the female than the male and probably always will be and I am not really biased. I just know the odds of damage from disease to a female and to a male. The male is not the one to experience pregnancy or the cancers caused by some STDs's. The only danger they share is AIDS and their AIDS is not a virulant as AIDS in women. Signed a former public health nurse.

[random_radar]

The comments from women below are so hilarious! On the other hand, the responses from men are insightful--why trust a woman with birth control? If you don't want to have a child, it is your responsibility to do something. And don't forget about the women who "accidentally" get pregnant in hopes of marrying.

Of course, I need to make it clear that I don't believe in sexual relations outside of marriage. But I see the value of male and female contraception no matter whether you agree or disagree with me.

[delta5243]

I second that

[evohollywood-2009]

Are you kidding me!? I'm a male in my early 20's do you know how much I DON'T want to have a baby right now? I would pay upwards of $100 a month to insure that I could have casual *** and not worry about the burden of a child (I understand there is still risk...but the same goes with female birth control). The pill had a revolutionary effect on the women's sexuality and society at large. It would be sexist and chauvinist to assume that a male birth control pill wouldn't have an equally important effect. It would benefit our society immensely if we could reduce at all the amount of children born to parents who aren't ready for them.

[apdepetris]

I think another type of male contraception is a great idea. I don't think it will stop the fact that the burden of birth control seems to usually fall to us women. Of course, I agree (if/when this drug is available) that a woman should not blindly trust a man that he is using contraception just as the man shouldn't just blindly trust the woman either. There are bad people out there on both sides - men who don't care if the woman gets pregnant and women who intentionally get pregnant. In any case, couples should use condoms to protect themselves from disease. But this type of male contraception might be good for married couples (who, I would hope, trust each other) in situations where the woman is not able to take hormonal birth control. And as previously stated, no birth control (expcept abstinence) is 100% effective so if both the woman and the man are both using birth control then the risk of an unintended pregnancy is pretty much zero.

[jkolkind]

Wow, man-haters?? Read what you have posted, dont you think you sound a little bitter? Contrary to popular belief, some men care about birth control, and let's not go ahead and say there has never been a good dad in the world. Yes there are bad men out there, but I am sure at least one woman out there is imperfect, in fact I will venture to say that there may even be a woman out there who has made a mistake,is that at all possible, or am I coming from left field on this?