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Gene Abnormality Could Lead To Male Contraceptive Pill

Posted on: Friday, 3 April 2009, 13:35 CDT

Researchers have uncovered a genetic abnormality that could lead them one step closer to developing a male contraceptive pill.

Researchers at the University of Iowa reported their findings in the American Journal of Human Genetics online.

Female contraceptives were developed more than 40 years ago, but no similar approach has been developed for males although surveys conducted in by the Medical Research Council Reproductive Biology Unit in the United Kingdom, revealed that men would be willing to use a contraceptive pill if it was available.

Currently, males are limited to a choice between condoms or a vasectomy when it comes to contraceptives.

"We have identified CATSPER1 as a gene that is involved in non-syndromic male infertility in humans, a finding which could lead to future infertility therapies that replace the gene or the protein. But, perhaps even more importantly, this finding could have implications for male contraception," said Dr . Michael Hildebrand, co-lead author of the study and a UI postdoctoral researcher in otolaryngology at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

Researchers including scientists from the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran, Iran, noticed the gene when they were conducting a study on the genetics of families from Iran. Iranian families are noted to have a relatively high rate of disease-causing gene mutations.

Collecting genetic information from this population allowed the researchers to identify two families where male infertility that was not part of a syndrome appeared to be inherited. The affected men's infertility was diagnosed with a routine semen analysis.
In previous studies, the CATSPER1 mutations have been noted to cause infertility in mice because they affect sperm “hyperactivation,” or the sperm’s ability and speed to enter the female egg.

"Identification of targets such as the CATSPER1 gene that are involved in the fertility process and are specific for sperm - potentially minimizing side effects of a drug targeting the protein's function - provide new targets for a pharmacological male contraceptive,” said Hildebrand.

"Hyperactivation is important both to get sperm to move along the oviduct toward the egg and also in giving them sufficient power and thrust to be able to fertilize it,” Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, told BBC Health.

"The fact that this study now suggests similar CATSPER mutations may also occurred in humans could explain why some men are unable to father a child naturally, in spite of having apparently normal semen quality."

"The authors are correct that this may also provide a new target for a revolutionary male contraceptive, although there is much work to be done in order to prove that approach would be both effective and safe."



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American Journal of Genetics

University of Sheffield

Source: redOrbit Staff

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