Image: Spermatozoa
Source: WebMD
About fifty or so years ago, oral contraception became a ground breaking tool for facilitating a generational women’s rights movement while effectively turning the social landscape of the 1960s upside-down. With fifty years or so behind us, female reproductive technologies have been produced and tweaked to near perfection. With a plethora of female contraception options available (i.e. pills, injections, hormonal patches, IUDs), it appears befitting to use the English metaphorical idiom of there being a pink elephant in the room in regards to male contraceptive technologies. Currently, options for male contraception include condoms and invasive vasectomies, which are more often difficult to reverse. So, with all the reproductive technologies in existence for female contraception, why does the viability of various forms of male contraception remain so elusive?
The invention of male contraceptive technologies is
complicated when it comes to the male reproductive system since the testes
possess dual functionality. The testes are involved in maintaining appropriate body
homeostasis while serving as the primary site for spermatogenesis. A recent article from the Bioorganic and Chemistry Letters journal has shown promising insight
into this particular social issue which may result in a lateral shift effectively
leading to more male reproductive responsibility in the contraception arena.
One such study includes investigating the capabilities of
vitamin A metabolism. The process of meiosis, in both males and females,
requires retinoic acid (a byproduct of vitamin A) in order to take place. A
study conducted in mice with a retinoic acid inhibitory drug effectively
rendered mice unable to produce viable, functioning sperm. Essentially, this inhibitory
drug blocks the enzyme from turning vitamin A into retinoic acid, thus,
interfering with sperm formation. Another such study, demonstrated hormonal
control of spermatogenesis through testosterone and progestin. This involves
the down regulation of pituitary gland releasing of FSH and LH resulting in the
impairment of spermatogenesis. Yet, another clinical study focuses on the
Na+/K+ ATPase pumps on the α4 polypeptide flagella subunits of the spermatid. Drug
specificity makes these pumps an ideal target for reversible male contraception.
Additionally, there are numerous clinical studies involving
transdermal patches, hormonal/non-hormonal pathways, and injections. It’s
crucial that the development of these pharmaceutical contraceptives be
reversible and safe in order to appeal to the marketable male population. The progress
of such technologies would allow for men to have more control over their
reproductive responsibilities while simultaneously minimizing the polar gap that
exists between men and women regarding contraceptive options.
Lorraina, I love that you wrote a blog post about this topic. Here's to hoping for the development and accessibility of male birth control!
ReplyDeleteWhat will be really interesting is if male birth control follows suit with female birth control. The political controversies of access, health care coverage, and overall stigma that birth control carries with it.
I recently read an article talking about the idea of putting a "glue" into the vas deferens in order to (what I understand) physically block sperm ejaculation. There's prospect of this moving to human trials relatively soon. Do you think that this idea, changing the anatomy, would be easier than doing a hormone or physiological change?
I fully agree that males should have a higher responsibility in procreation. When I first got married, my wife went on the pill. Being ever curious, I started researching how the various brands work and was not excited. I became very worried about the health of my new bride. After a few weeks, and seeing the emotional effects, we decided no more pill. Ever. I started looking into male forms of control and you can guess my surprise that with all of our advancements, not one was to be found on the market. Why hasn't this research been done before? It confounds me that science would want to target the fragile hormonal balance of the monthly cycle rather than a very specific portion of the male anatomy.
ReplyDeleteThis research is long overdue.
Allyson-- I think the 'glue' shows promise, however, if it came prematurely and expectantly loose it would lead to excruciating pain. (i.e kidney stone)
Lorraina, your topic choice is great and I think that male birth control is a fantastic idea. However I do wonder about how serious a male would be about taking birth control, while a women will take birth control to keep herself from getting pregnant she also uses it for a lighter period and to reduce symptoms such as cramping. These reasons will lead to a female taking the birth control even while she isn't sexually active. If male birth control is like the pill it will only be fully effective after the male has been taking it regularly for a month, will a male have a reason to continuously take birth control like females do? I also wonder if they will be concerned with pregnancy since the burden of carrying the baby falls with the women and makes them feel more responsible. It will be very interesting to see how young adult males respond to this.
ReplyDeleteI also love that you chose to write about this topic. At my last job, I provided education on birth control options every day. I have been following the information on trials for male birth control. I do believe that Vasalgel is a promising development, although from what I've read it has not yet been used in the human population. It will be interesting to see the results once they attempt to reverse the effects of the injection. If it is reversible, and there aren't many side effects like the ones James had mentioned, I think it could be a revolutionary development. However, It should remain in trial to ensure that those side effects aren't present for some time. Many articles are predicting Vasalgel will be on the market by 2017, which is not too far away. Do you think that with an increase in men receiving this injection, there will be a decrease in condom use (and therefore a surge in the presence of STIs)?
ReplyDelete