A team of scientists from Cornell Universityin the US state of New York, has successfully tested a new potential contraceptive for men capable of temporarily blocking the movement of sperm without side effects.
In fact, tests carried out on mice revealed that the drug TDI-11861 it is able to inhibit the swimming of sperm towards the ova for fertilization. According to the scientists, therefore, it could be a real breakthrough in the field of contraception: unlike the female pill, in fact, the TDI-11861 would not in fact lower the testosterone levels of men, nor would it act on their hormones or on the natural production of liquid seminal.
The drug tested by American scientists can be ingested orally and could represent an alternative to more invasive methods of contraception, such as vasectomy and condoms.
“The idea of momentarily acting on the key enzyme in sperm movement is really new,” Professor Allan Paceyprofessor of andrology at theUniversity of Sheffield “If the effects seen in mice can be replicated in humans to the same degree of effectiveness, then TDI-11861 could indeed be the male contraceptive we’ve been looking for.”
“Non-hormonal” male contraceptive pill, trials underway in a year: this is how it works
Here’s how the experimental drug works
Following the first mouse study, funded by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Nature Communicationsit has been found that a single dose of the drug TDI-11861 can “immobilize” sperm before, during and after mating.
The test results confirm that the effect of the drug lasts about three hours and it is completely exhausted within a total of 24 hours: once this time interval has elapsed, the next batch of sperm examined in fact swam normally.
To obtain this particular “reversible” effect, the drug TDI-11861 acts temporarily on a specific enzyme responsible for the movement of male gametes: thesoluble adenylate cyclase (sAC).
The next scientific steps
If the results of the test on mice were successfully confirmed by subsequent trials – planned first on rabbits and then on humans – men could in the future have a contraceptive capable of “suspending” their fertility in a safe way and without undesirable effects long term.
Experts have warned however that the use of the drug TDI-11861 cannot replace that of condoms as a means of avoiding the possible spread of STDs.