- contraceptives for the man: New findings – paralyze sperm?
- Study on possible contraceptive method: assessment the research results
- contraceptive methods for woman and man at a glance
- Conclusion – further investigations are necessary
From the pill to the spiral to the calendar method or the hormone patch: For women There are many different hormonal and non-hormonal contraceptive methods. The man can use contraception according to the current status just the condom use or the sterilization Select. Contraception research is constantly looking for new methods for men and could possibly do so here a new approach Find.
Findings of the researchers
Researchers from Belgium and America have been able to gain new insights that could possibly lead to a future contraceptive method that aims to paralyze sperm. Basically secreting sperm so that they can penetrate the egg shell for fertilization, potassium ions away. The research team was able to find out through which channel the elimination of the potassium ions takes place. This knowledge could provide an approach for a new contraceptive method.
The reason potassium ions are secreted is that it lowers the surface tension of the sperm. Accordingly, it advances better and can penetrate the egg shell for fertilization. If this process happens, that too hyperpolarization is mentioned, no fertilization can take place. The substance that prevents a sperm from secreting potassium ions is called “VU0546110“. She is not identified more precisely. She acts in the so-called Potassium channel SLO3.
It was first found out to which of the potassium channels it is the sperm. Each sperm has several of these channels. The discovery of the key channel for potassium ion sequestration is exciting in that, on the one hand, it infertility some men explain could, but on the other hand also as a starting point for one new contraceptive method could apply.
Evaluation of the research results and a brief overview of contraceptive methods
Compared to the MDR explains the cell biologist Prof. Dr. Artur Mayerhofer that the role of this channel for human sperm not known yet has been. This could not have been concluded from studies with mice. In order to be able to use the findings for a new contraceptive method, it is necessary further investigations. After all, it must be ensured that the unidentified substance is well tolerated. How reliable such a method would be can also be determined not yet estimated will.
Also Prof. Dr. Timo Strünker, Head of Research at Molecular Reproductive Physiology at the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Andrology in the University Hospital Münster, postulated to the MDR, that the research results a important development step towards a contraceptive without side effects. After all, the remedy is not based on the effect of hormones. It remains questionable, however, whether the SLO3 inhibitor actually by the man or the woman would have to be taken. After all, the fertilization process takes place in the woman.
A brief overview of the contraceptive methods available to date shows how important new methods could be for men. Already in the 1960s came the Birth control pills for women on the market; first in the USA and a year later in Germany. A comparable hormone-based contraceptive exists but not for the man. This is by no means due to a lack of research interest: there was corresponding research as early as the 1930s, explains the andrologist Christian Leiber to the RND. However, when the pill was approved for women, the effort dropped. One possible reason for this is the cost of the clinical studies. And yet: The demand is there and the Gender Equality plays an increasingly important role. While there are numerous hormonal and hormone-free contraceptive options for women, the man remains free just the condom or sterilization.
Conclusion – further investigations are necessary
The findings of the American-Belgian research team could important step towards explaining previously unexplained infertility and also represent a new approach for a new contraceptive without side effects. In order to develop a new method, however, it is necessary further investigations. In addition, it remains unclear whether the research work actually provides an approach for a contraceptive for men. It could be the SLO3 inhibitors from the woman would have to be taken. The further development of the research stays with you tension to observe.
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