Medical researchers say they have uncovered a “promising option” to create a contraceptive pill for men.
A study by the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, published in the latest Science journal said a non-hormonal treatment had tested well in animals.
“Although researchers have been investigating several strategies to develop male contraceptives, we still do not have a birth control pill for men,” study author Dr Martin Matzuk said.
“In this study we focused on a novel approach – identifying a small molecule that would inhibit serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33), a protein that is specifically required for fertility in both men and mice.”
Dr Matzuk said that, in mice, knocking out the STk33 gene rendered the mice sterile due to abnormal sperm and poor sperm motility.
In men, having a mutation in the STK33 gene led to infertility caused by the same sperm defects found in the STK33 knockout mice.
The researchers uncovered potent STK33-specific inhibitors, from which they successfully generated modified versions to make them more stable, potent and selective.
Further research on these specific inhibitors will be conducted with animals as a potential precursor to a human male contraceptive pill that could induce reversible male infertility.
More information is available on the Baylor College of Medicine website.
