Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City are looking into non-hormonal contraceptives that inhibit a sperm’s ability to swim and fertilize an egg.
A recent study published in the journal Nature Communications identified a compound that could help develop an on-demand, short-term contraceptive that would restore the fertility of sperm cells the next day.
In the mice study, researchers found that after giving male mice a compound that temporarily disables a particular sperm enzyme the mice were still having sex but no pregnancies were observed.
Adenylyl cyclase is an enzyme essential for activating a sperm cell’s ability to swim through the reproductive tract and fertilize an egg. After many tests, researchers saw that after giving the TDI-11861 compound to the mice, sperm cells were immobile and prevented from maturing.
After three hours, researchers noticed that the effect wore off and the mice recovered their fertility.
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“The researchers say their work provides proof of concept that soluble adenylyl cyclase inhibitors have the potential to provide a safe, on-demand, non-hormonal and reversible oral contraceptive for men,” reads a statement from the National Institutes of Health.
The study was led by Melanie Balbach, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of coauthors Jochen Buck and Lonnie Levin at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
It was funded by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Aging, and National Cancer Institute.
Natalia@mugglehead.com
