Researchers
have discovered the the compound triptonide is safe, effective and reversible
as a male contraceptive in animal models.
Researchers
report that they have discovered a natural compound which was a safe, effective
and reversible male contraceptive agent in pre-clinical animal models. The
study was conducted at The Lundquist Institute (TLI), US.
Named triptonide, the compound can either be purified from a Chinese herb called Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F or produced through chemical synthesis.
The
researchers found that single daily oral doses of triptonide induced altered
sperm, having minimal or no forward motility with close to 100 percent
penetrance and consequently male infertility in three-four and five-six weeks.
Once the treatment was stopped, the males become fertile again in ~four-six
weeks and could produce healthy offspring.
No
discernible toxic effects were detected in either short- or long-term
triptonide treatment. The team say that all of the data suggest that triptonide
is a highly promising non-hormonal male contraceptive agent for men because it
appears to meet all of the criteria for a viable contraceptive drug candidate,
including bioavailability, efficacy, reversibility and safety. A battery of
biochemical analyses suggest that triptonide targets one of the last steps
during sperm assembly, leading to the production of altered sperm without
vigorous motility required for fertilisation.
“Thanks to
decades of basic research, we were inspired to develop the idea that a compound
that targets a protein critical for the last several steps of sperm assembly
would lead to the production of non-functional sperm without causing severe
depletion of testicular cells,” said lead investigator Dr Wei Yan. “We are very
excited that the new idea worked and that this compound appears to be an ideal
male contraceptive. Our results using non-injurious studies on lower primates
suggest triptonide will be an effective treatment for human males as well.
Hopefully, we will be able to start human clinical trials soon to make the
non-hormonal male contraceptive a reality.”
The study is
published in Nature Communications.
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