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They create the first contraceptive pill for men with 99% effectiveness
The contraceptive method was tested on mice and was a complete success, which is why they will begin this year with tests on humans.
A group of American scientists announced this week that they had managed to develop a contraceptive pill for men, which was 99% effective in a test carried out on mice.
The experiment did not cause side effects in animals, so there is a good chance that it will be implemented in humans in 2022.
The advances of this contraceptive will be presented at a special meeting held by the American Chemical Society and will represent a positive impact in terms of male birth control.
It would be the third method, after vasectomy and condoms
Since the pill for women was approved more than 6 decades ago, scientists specialized in this subject have wanted to develop something equal for the male sex.
Dr. Abdullah Al Noman, a graduate of the University of Minnesota, is one of those working on this new method, and assured in an interview for AFP that "many of the studies show that men are interested in sharing contraceptive responsibility. with their sexual partners.
Previously, other contraceptive methods had not been approved for men, due to the negative consequences that they produced, such as depression, weight gain and even cardiovascular diseases.
In this sense, this pill has the advantage and particularity that it does not eliminate testosterone or the male sex hormone, which minimizes side effects.
In the case of female pills, it is well known that they work with female sex hormones, producing alterations in the menstrual cycle, but despite this, since the alterations are minimal, they went on the market normally.
In the male case, this hormone-free contraceptive would work as a blocker of a protein called alpha receptor, which, together with retinoic acid (RAR-α) and vitamin A, are responsible for the production of sperm.
The researchers found that by deleting the RAR-α gene in male mice, their fertility levels dropped considerably. Then, Dr. Gunda Georg led them in the work where they found a compound called YCT529, which could inhibit RAR-α without the need to bind to another component.
For four weeks, several mice received oral doses of YCT529 and it was able to considerably reduce the production of sperm in them; being 99% effective, since procreation was prevented in the mice, and in addition, they did not present negative effects.
The fertility of the mice returned after being more than 5 weeks without ingesting the drug. This represented an achievement for the researchers, who, in order to execute this plan, received contributions from the National Institutes of Health and the US Male Contraception Initiative.
Scientists stipulate that the start of trials of this contraceptive in humans will be between the months of July and December of this year.
Also, Professor Gunda Georg, considered that if everything goes as they wish, the pill could go on the market in about five years. "There is no guarantee that it will work, but I am still optimistic and I think we will move quickly," said the scientist.
