MADRID, 4 (EUROPA PRESS)
Researchers from the Lundquist Institute (United States) have identified a new natural compound as a safe, effective and reversible male contraceptive agent in preclinical animal models. Until now, and despite enormous scientific efforts in recent decades, advances in the development of non-hormonal male contraceptives have been very limited.
The compound is triptonide, which can be purified from a Chinese herb called Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F, or produced by chemical synthesis. According to their results, published in the scientific journal ‘Nature Communications’, single daily oral doses of triptonide induce an alteration of the spermatozoa that has minimal or no forward motility, with a penetrance close to one hundred percent and, consequently, a male infertility in 3-4 and 5-6 weeks.
After treatment is suspended, males are fertile again in 4-6 weeks, and can produce healthy offspring. No discernible toxic effects were detected in short- or long-term triptonide treatment. All of their data suggest that triptonide is a very promising non-hormonal male contraceptive agent for men, as it appears to meet all the criteria for a viable contraceptive drug candidate, including bioavailability, efficacy, reversibility, and safety.
A battery of biochemical analyzes suggests that triptonide targets one of the last steps during sperm assembly, leading to the production of altered sperm without the vigorous motility required for fertilization.
“Thanks to decades of basic research, which inspired us to develop the idea that a compound targeting a critical protein for the last steps of sperm assembly would lead to the production of non-functional sperm without causing severe depletion of testicular cells. . We are very happy that the new idea has worked and that this compound appears to be an ideal male contraceptive. Our results with non-harmful studies in lower primates suggest that triptonide will be an effective treatment for human males as well. Hopefully we will soon be able to start human clinical trials to make non-hormonal male contraceptives a reality, ”explains research leader Wei Yan.
“The discovery represents a great leap in the field. The more contraceptive methods that are available, the better, as we want to have a range of pharmaceutical products that safely and effectively meet the family planning needs of men and couples at different stages of their reproductive lives, with different ethnic, cultural and cultural backgrounds. religious and economic means, ”comment Drs. Christina Wang and Ronald Swerdloff, Co-Principal Investigators at the Lundquist Institute.
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