Here comes the male “pill” that blocks sperm (but only for a few hours) – breaking latest news

It will still take years for the contraceptive pill to be truly available, however a new study has solid foundations on what male contraception could be. Researchers at Weill Cornel Medicine in New York have in fact developed a drug capable of reduce male fertility very quickly and for a limited time and, importantly, without using hormones. In short, the impact is temporary and would have no effect on long-term fertility and would not affect sexual behavior. The study was published in Nature Communications. the new turn that research is taking in this field is very interesting because hormonal contraceptives are now considered unusable due to the high side effects and with results, even in the best studies, that cannot be superimposed on those of the pill. Paolo Turchiandrologist at the Prato hospital and member of the Scientific Commission of the SIA (Italian Society of Andrology).

The premise: the new contraceptive has so far only been tested on mice. The drug essentially deactivates an enzyme, theadenylate cyclaseIt is essential for sperm motility, blocking their ability to move. The inhibitor has paralyzed the sperm of the guinea pigs for about three hours and its effect completely faded within 24 hours. The mice remained sterile for a limited amount of time, did not impregnate their mates, and became fertile again the next day. The mouse pill worked 100% with no side effects, but studies on rabbits and other larger animals will need to be done before moving to human trials.

The study was conducted by Jochen Buck e Lonny Levin who were actually studying adenylate cyclase inhibitors for other reasons and only later realized the potential for male contraception.

Adenylate cyclase is a key enzyme and for the sperm motility and for their maturation. Scientists wanted to study how to “block” the male gametes, in fact paralyzing them to prevent them from swimming and reaching the egg for fertilization. They thus focused on an inhibitor of the enzyme adenylate cyclase which they baptized TDI-11861. Mice that received TDI-11861 remained temporarily sterile. A single dose of our inhibitor immobilizes the sperm of the mice – say the authors – for up to about two and a half hours. After three hours, 9% of the spermatozoa begin to regain motility while 24 hours later the total movement recovers. In mice, the inhibitor works half an hour after taking it.

There is an urgent need for an effective and reversible oral contraceptive – declared alla BBC the professor Allan Pacey, lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield and the approach of eliminating the enzyme in semen which is essential for sperm movement is an innovative idea and the fact that it is reversible is very revolutionary. If the mouse trials can be replicated in humans as effectively then this could be the male contraceptive approach we’ve been waiting for. The idea of ​​a pill on demand, practical and timed which, with different objectives, works like viagra, is truly revolutionary, adds Turchi.

Scientists have already announced that they want to go ahead with their studies and arrive as soon as possible human trials. We hope to be able to offer the product in pharmacies soon says Lonny Levin. However, there are a number of aspects that need to be clarified. Adenylate cyclase is an enzyme that not only regulates sperm motility but also other body functions: does the inhibitor act only on male gametes or also on other activities? Adenylate cyclase is an enzyme that we have throughout our body and supplies energy not only to sperm, but to all of our cells. It is not clear whether the enzyme inhibitor is so selective that it only inhibits the sperm enzyme. Differently the drug bound to have some side effects reflects the andrologist. Previous studies have shown that infertile men with blocked adenylate cyclase were more likely to experience kidney stones (according to the authors it would not be for the case of the pill on demand which would turn off the enzyme only for a limited period of time). Mine is an instinctive skepticism – specifies Paolo Turchi – but we andrologists were skeptical even with the Viagra, that too an enzyme inhibitor. At the time it was unthinkable that something taken by mouth would only act there, it really seemed to be dealing with a magic pill for the knowledge of that moment. Facts then inhibited skepticism. Viagra is also a molecule that inhibits an enzyme that leads to a limitation of the erection. By blocking that enzyme the erection mechanism is amplified.

For years now there has been talk of male contraception but to date nothing has been achieved yet and a pill similar to the female one does not exist. Two clinical trials have recently been concluded in the United States experimental pills that reduce testosterone. In Australia, an experiment with a hydrogel has started which would prevent the seminal fluid from reaching the outside, avoiding pregnancies. At the moment only two options are available to men: condoms and vasectomy. To date, despite the efforts of medical research over the past 30 years, if we talk about usable and effective male contraception we must continue to speak only of condoms. Even vasectomy, although effective in 100% of cases, being an invasive procedure and only theoretically reversible, a practice to be considered only in specific cases clarifies Paolo Turchi. If studies confirm its effectiveness, this new pill will still really be chosen by men?