A male contraceptive pill is a step closer to becoming a reality, believe researchers at Oxford University's glycobiology institute who have successfully tested a substance called NB-DNJ on mice. They found it did not affect reproductive hormones and its effects were easily reversed.
NB-DNJ, an alkylated imino sugar, interferes with the development of sperm cells in such a way that they become very poor swimmers, highly inefficient in propelling themselves. In addition, these sperm cells lack some of the specialised structures needed for fertilisation.
So far, the treatment has only been tested on mice, which became infertile after three weeks of being given the drug. The mice's levels of testosterone remained unaffected by the treatment, and the contraceptive effect was reversed within four weeks of stopping the drug. The dose needed for men would be so low that any potential side effects would be negligible, say the Oxford scientists.
Dr Frances Platt, reader in glycobiology, who directed the research, said: "Our findings illustrate that male fertility can be regulated by a non-hormonal compound which has practically no side effects at the effective dose required in mice. We think that this treatment may work for men because the formation of sperm is very much the same process for all mammals. However, we need to evaluate it for men before we know for certain. If we see the same effects, then this could become a potential male contraceptive pill in the future."
Their findings were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on December 9, titled Reversible infertility in male mice following oral administration of alkylated imino sugars; a non-hormonal approach to male contraception, by Aarnoud C van der Spoel, Mylvaganam Jeyakumar, Terry D Butters, Harry M Charlton, Harry D Moore, Raymond A Dwek and Frances M Platt.
· Oxford's latest spin-out company is the drug delivery specialist Glycoform Ltd, based on work in carbohydrate and glycoprotein chemistry and biology by Dr Ben Davis and Dr Antony Fairbanks in Oxford's chemistry department. It hopes to be able to deliver highly toxic anti-cancer drugs in more precise ways to diseased organs. Glycoform Ltd raised £1m in a share placing with private and institutional investors. Isis, the university's technology transfer company, currently files a patent a week and spins-out a company every two months based on academic research generated within and owned by the university. The combined value of Oxford's companies has reached £2bn.
