Paris (AFP) – A gel squirted into the sperm ducts of monkeys has been effective at preventing pregnancy, said a study Tuesday which offered hope of a solution for men reluctant to go under the knife for family planning.
While several birth control options exist for women, the race is on for a non-surgical, long-term and reversible male contraceptive without the side effects of hormonal changes.
The only short-term solutions available today are condoms, which many people complain interfere with sex, and withdrawal before ejaculation, which comes with a high risk of pregnancy.
Longer term, the sole option is a vasectomy, which involves tying or cutting the sperm-conducting tubes called vas deferens. This prevents sperm from mixing with seminal fluid ejaculated during sex.
Vasectomies can be reversed in some cases, but the procedure is technically challenging and leads to low rates of fertility.
Researchers in the United States are developing a possible alternative, dubbed Vasalgel, which has proven effective in rabbits and now also in rhesus monkeys – more closely related and anatomically similar to humans.
Vasalgel is a polymer gel injected directly into the vas deferens, creating a blockage in the tube that transports sperm from the testes out through the penis.
In an experiment at the California National Primate Research Center, 16 adult male monkeys were treated. They were housed with females, and monitored for up to two years – covering at least one breeding season per animal.
“Treated males have had no conceptions since Vasalgel injections,” the research team wrote in the journal Basic and Clinical Andrology.
Preparations are underway for a clinical trial with Vasalgel in humans, said the Parsemus Foundation, a non-profit organization funding the product’s development.
