It has been talked about for at least a decade, about the male contraceptive pill, the famous “pill”, but, despite the promises of many studies, there is still no drug approved for men and who knows when it will arrive. And therefore male contraception necessarily passes through the condom (not infallible method) or vasectomy (difficult to reverse). But perhaps it is too early to dismiss the pill hypothesis, considering the study on a non-hormonal pill, presented during the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring Meeting 2022, conducted by scientists from the University of Minnesota, who tested the drug. on mice.
99% effective
The research group, led by Abdullah Al Noman e Gunda Georg, has managed to develop a non-hormonal male contraceptive that can reduce the risk of unwanted conception. Tested in a mouse model, the method was 99 percent effective and showed no obvious side effects. “Research has long been aimed at developing an effective oral contraceptive – observes Al Noman – but there are still no alternatives available on the market”. The researchers targeted a protein called retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-), which plays a crucial role in cell growth, semen formation and embryonic development. And they developed an oral compound that inhibits the RAR- gene and causes reversible sterility in male mice.
And reversible …
The compound, called YCT529, was administered orally for four weeks and drastically reduced the number of sperm produced by the treated specimens, preventing pregnancies in 99 percent of cases, with no particular side effects being observed. Four to six weeks after the end of the treatment period, the mice were able to produce offspring again. “We hope to start clinical trials on humans by the end of 2022 – comments Georg – we are also exploring other compounds besides YCT529. We hope that our work will finally lead to the development of an oral contraceptive for the male population”