Male birth control pill 99% effective on mice, human trials to start soon

[dvernb]

Scientists have developed a non-hormonal male birth control pill with 99 per cent effectiveness and no obvious side effects in mice, and the findings of the study were presented at the American Chemical Society’s Spring 2022 conference in San Diego on Tuesday.

Typically, targeting the sex hormone testosterone can lead to unpleasant side effects like weight gain, depression and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and this has caused difficulty in finding a healthy birth-control solution for men.

Lead researchers of this study highlighted the reason for their male contraceptive's effectiveness and lack of side effects: the pill does not target testosterone. Currently, testosterone inhibition is the most common method of other men's contraceptives undergoing clinical trials.

As of now, birth control options for men are limited to condoms (a single-use contraceptive prone to failure) or a vasectomy (a surgical procedure that can be difficult and occasionally costly to reverse), while women have multiple options available to them, including oral contraceptives, IUDs and female condoms.

So far, this study, led by Gunda Georg and other researchers at the University of Minnesota, has proven safe and effective on mice. The team hopes to begin human trials later this year.

“Most female birth control pills work on the female sex hormones,” said Abdullah al Noman, a graduate student and researcher on the project.

“Targeting the male sex hormone leads to a lot of side effects such as weight gain, depression and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases,” he said. “Men are less willing to take a birth control pill that has significant side effects. That’s why we are targeting a non-hormonal pathway to developing a male birth control pill.”

To develop the male contraceptive, researchers targeted a protein called the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α). This protein is one of a family of three nuclear receptors that bind retinoic acid, a form of vitamin A that plays important roles in sperm formation and embryonic development.

By removing the RAR-α receptor in male mice, scientists could make male mice sterile. In their study, the team identified the compound YCT529, which effectively inhibited RAR-α.

YCT529, which was given orally to mice for four straight weeks, dramatically reduced sperm counts in mice and was 99 per cent effective in preventing pregnancy, without any observable side effects.

The mice could father pups again four to six weeks after they stopped receiving the compound.

Scientists are hoping to begin human testing of YCT529 in the latter half of 2022.

“That’s very important — that you knock out the target (RAR-α) — that you’ve achieved the desired effect but the mice are also viable and healthy,” Georg said. “Of course, you have to be careful with this analysis because they are mice and not humans, but nevertheless the effect was very, very promising.

“Because it can be difficult to predict if a compound that looks good in animal studies will also pan out in human trials, we’re currently exploring other compounds, as well."

Scientists are currently modifying existing compounds and testing new structures as they continue their research.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/medical/male-birth-control-pill-99percent-effective-on-mice-human-trials-to-start-soon/ar-AAVsPfv?li=AAggNb9

 

[Merlin]

Uh, no thank you.

[koolrebel]

Oh I don't think so ....too old anyhoo lol

 

Might be ok for some of the young bucks out there that are driven by their urge rather than their brain..

 

Interesting article though.

[Gethin]

At the risk of being labeled a pariah, as is the new normal for the SJW Gestapo to do, I will voice this observation.

Euro-ethnic populations have already been in a negative birth rate for 70+ years while African and Asian ethnic group populations birth rates have exploded over the same period. Why then would Euro males be encouraged to produce even fewer babies? Why? The only people on earth who are dwindling will be the only ones blindly using another birth control method while the others laugh at them.

Orwellian nightmare come true.

[dvernb]

Well first of all it's not Euro males, it's all males.

Also, it's not fewer babies, it's fewer UNWANTED babies.

Males wouldn't have to trust the female who says she is taking birth control.

If they ever get it perfected I expect it will be every bit as popular as the female birth control pill!

 

[Gethin]

As I said I know I run a risk with my observation and opinion but I’ll take it this once.

The only group of males that have shown any interest in birth control are Euro males. The othe ethnic groups have not shown the same desire to curb the birth rate. The only ones who will use male birth control pills will be Euro males.

My opinion, I have no imperical data to add.

[toxicweasel]

Considering the decline of fertility rate, there will be no need for such thing.

[Gregorius]

I think that in the next decades the earth's resources will not be enough to feed all the inhabitants of the planet. Therefore it will be the famine to cause the reduction of the number of human beings on the planet. The male birth control pill could be a useful tool to postpone in time the death of starvation of millions of people, especially in the poorest countries of the world.

[toxicweasel]

Those countries didn't really much use available methods so far, why would they start now? I am from Europe and our population is in rapid decline, from south eastern Europe to be precise. My town has lass than a half of the population than it had at the beginning of the 20th century.

We do not need this type of birth control, soon there will be no one to use it anyways. People lack education, not the birth control methods.

Edited April 23, 2022 by toxicweasel

[Gregorius]

It is true that in many European nations there is a strong denatality.
This is also due to the fact that raising children has a very high cost. This fact has a negative impact on family income, especially in times of economic crisis.
Many nations of the Western world have not yet overcome the economic crisis that began in 2008.
In past decades, children were seen as a guarantee of social assistance and care when their parents became elderly and no longer independent. 
Now this social function has disappeared. Now a family with many children will face many more economic problems than a family with one or at most two children.
To believe that economic well-being will reach the entire world population in a short time is, in my opinion, a utopia. The resources of the planet are not and will not be sufficient to guarantee to all inhabitants a standard of living equal to that of the countries of the Western world. 
Paradoxically this will contribute to shorten the time in which famine will appear on the horizon. Economic wellbeing and widespread schooling can become a universal asset only if the global population stops the exponential growth of the birth rate. With the current birth rate, the number of inhabitants of the planet will reach 9 billion in 2050.
Millions of people will migrate in the hope of finding better living conditions. This will increase social conflict with natives and lead to increasingly violent riots.
Reducing birth rates is the quickest way to ensure that the planet's resources will provide prosperity for all humans in the coming years.

[toxicweasel]

Unfortunately this is kinda already happening in Sweden, there was riot/clash few days ago there. I do not advocate for pure ethnic states but now that you already mentioned it, there should be some level of integration if country is gonna import work force (which looks inevitable for most of the Europe at this point).

I'm living in multi ethnic region with more-less compatible cultures and identical way of life, living side by side for centuries but friction sometimes still happens. Two highly different cultures lead to sectarianism which is recipe for disaster.... anyways, contraception....