Mechanism to control sperm activity, promising birth control pills for men

ABHD2 enzyme - "a sperm" switch that can swim or stop swimming has been discovered by scientists, not only a new opportunity for infertile, infertile men but also can be used As an effective contraceptive method for all other normal men.

In a report published in Science magazine, scientists at UC Berkeley and Yale University found a mechanism that could " squeeze " lazy sperm swimming in the testicles to swim more intensely when continued. contact with eggs. This promises to enhance the fertility of some men, while at the same time " squeezing " the sperm of some other men who are no longer swimming, leading to an effective contraceptive method, safe.

Previously, scientists knew that sperm would become " powerful swimmers " when they were exposed to progesterone, a hormone secreted by eggs. They also know that this hormone will use a protein called CatSper to activate the calcium " fever " in the sperm's tail to enhance swimming ability. This is like a switch that decides whether sperm is diligent or lazy, but until now, scientists have not yet identified the hormones that directly activate CatSper or another mechanism behind it.

Methods to control sperm activity.

To clarify the problem, the scientists exposed sperm to a variety of chemicals to activate enzymes , then exposed them to progesterone. And they discovered some enzymes that if they were disabled, the sperm would swim or not swim. Through a more careful screening phase, they finally determined exactly the type of enzyme called ABHD2 behind this mechanism.

Scientists think they can refine ABHD2 in some infertile men to improve their fertility . More importantly, for men who do not want to be a father, if scientists use a specific substance to make their sperm temporarily out of control of ABHD2, or turn off the ABHD2 production mechanism it will form an effective contraceptive. More than that, this approach can be applied in the form of oral contraceptives for men.

Current contraceptive options for men are not many. Although there are some measures being developed, there are still many disadvantages. Typically Vasalgel, a gel that can clog the vas deferens but is temporary and poorly effective, and it must be injected into the vas deferens. Adjudin is a drug that blocks spermatogenesis, is thought to be anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-neurodegenerative but needs to be used at very high doses to be effective. Therefore, if successful, the new enzyme approach will create a simple yet effective contraceptive for men.