April 20, 2018
Even better? It's for men.
The invention of hormonal contraception, aka “The Pill”, revolutionized women’s liberation. However, since its inception in the late 50s improvements to The Pill have been few and far between. Meanwhile, women have been forced to suffer the consequences of adverse reactions, such as depression, weight gain, mood swings, migraines, decreased libido, lethargy and nausea to name a few.
Indeed, women have long asked the question: WHAT ABOUT MALE CONTROL? Why must women carry this burden alone? To which pharmaceutical companies have said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
But perhaps all that is changing. A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE details how a non-hormonal male birth control option with no side effects could be closer than we think.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Biotechnology Center and Eppin Pharma tested a compound called EP055 in primates (rhesus macaques to be specific) to see if it could work as an effective contraceptive. The compound, EP055, binds to sperm proteins to significantly slow the overall mobility of the sperm without affecting hormones. No sperm mobility = no baby.
“Simply put, the compound turns-off the sperm’s ability to swim, significantly limiting fertilization capabilities,” said lead investigator Michael O’Rand retired professor of cell biology and physiology in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and president/CEO of Eppin Pharma, Inc.
O’Rand and his team of researchers found that 30 hours after a high-dose intravenous infusion of EP055 there was no indication of normal sperm motility– and there were no physical side effects observed. Not only that, the effects were reversible. Meaning, once the subjects were taken off the compound, the sperm motility returned to normal (key to an effective contraceptive since the men may want children at some point).
“Men have only two practical choices for contraception; the condom which has a high typical use failure rate or vasectomy which is not readily reversible,” explained the study authors. “Our results demonstrate that the sperm surface protein EPPIN [which EP055 targets] is a reasonable non-hormonal contraceptive target.” Even better an effective male birth control pill with no side-effects means women who suffer while taking hormonal contraceptive no longer have to do so.
Of course, this news while exciting is also very preliminary. The researcher’s next step is to test a pill form of the compound since most people would not want to take a high-dose intravenous contraceptive. After that, they need to test the pill against pregnancy (not just sperm motility) and then at some point down the line begin human trials. It’s a long, arduous road.
Yet, it’s still promising. The last form of male birth control that made it to human clinical trials — hormone injections designed to lower sperm count — was cut short by a safety review board after male patients exhibited severe side effects. According to the study detailing the trials, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the men experienced depression, mood changes, changes in libido, acne and one patient even committed suicide.
In other words, finding a male contraception with no side effects, which EP055 could *maybe* one day deliver (if we’re lucky) would save both men and women a lot of struggle.
