The Male Birth Control Pill Is Officially One Step Closer to Reality

by Shahrzad WarkentinMarch 28, 2019

The world is now one step closer to gaining a male birth control pill. A potential male oral contraceptive has just passed human safety tests.

The study, conducted at LA BioMed and the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, included 40 healthy men, 10 of whom received a placebo pill while 30 men received the drug called 11-beta-methyl-19-nortestosterone dodecylcarbonate, or 11-beta-MNTDC for 28 days.

photo: Ake via Rawpixel

The drug is a modified testosterone that has the combined actions of a male hormone (androgen) and a progesterone. Among the men receiving 11-beta-MNTDC, the average circulating testosterone level dropped as low as in androgen deficiency. According to the study, the participants did not experience any severe side effects. About four to six men experienced mild side effects, including fatigue, acne or headache. No participants had to stop taking the pill due to side effects and they all passed safety tests.

“Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido,” the study’s co-senior investigator, Christina Wang said. Before you get too excited, more testing and studies are still needed to determine the drug’s effectiveness in the long-term. “Safe, reversible hormonal male contraception should be available in about 10 years,” Wang predicted.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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Your Birth Control Might Not Work because of Your Genes, Study Finds

by Erica LoopMarch 20, 2019

As much as we might try to plan our families, as Bob Ross would say, sometimes a “happy little accident” can happen. If a happy accident has happened to you or someone you know, human error isn’t necessarily at fault. New research published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology may have found a reason for why birth control fails for some women.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus studied 350 women who had had a contraceptive implant in place for 12 to 36 months. Five percent of the participants had a gene called CYP3A7*1C—and it’s that gene that put women at greater risk for hormonal birth control failure, according to the researchers.

photo: ecooper99 via Flickr

So what does a gene have to do with unintended pregnancy? The CYP3A7*1C is typically only active in fetuses. After birth the gene switches off—or at least it should. If the gene, which manufacturers the CYP3A7 enzyme, continues to work after birth, it can contribute to the breakdown of the hormones used in some birth control methods.

So what does this mean for you? In theory, if you have the gene in question, your hormonal birth control could fail. But unless you have a full genetic workup, it’s not likely you’ll ever know you have an active CYP3A7*1C. The research is a starting step towards a better understanding of the influence our genes have on what we put into our bodies.

According to the study’s lead author, Aaron Lazorwitz, MD, assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, “When a woman says she got pregnant while on birth control the assumption was always that it was somehow her fault. But these findings show that we should listen to our patients and consider if there is something in their genes that caused this.”

—Erica Loop

Another Step Forward in Creating a Birth Control Pill for Men

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This One-Touch Birth Control Patch Could Be a Game-Changer for Women

by Shahrzad WarkentinJanuary 28, 2019

Birth control can be a great tool for preventing an unplanned pregnancy, but when you’ve already got mom brain it can be hard to make sure you take it correctly every day. That’s what makes a new kind of birth control such a game-changer, as this micro-needle birth control patch means all you’d have to do is give yourself a little tap once a month.

According to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a patch that uses dissolvable micro-needles to inject levonorgestrel, a common hormonal medication that prevents pregnancy.

photo: Christopher Moore/Georgia Tech via EurekAlert

All users need to do is apply the patch to their skin and the tiny micro-needles break off, implant themselves under the surface of the skin (where they dissolve) and slowly release the drug over time. Despite the tiny needles, the entire process is painless. The price tag is also pain-free—with the researchers reporting that each patch should only cost about one dollar.

Don’t call your OB/GYN just yet, however. So far the drug has only been tested successfully on rats, but the researchers are hopeful that it will have similar results in humans.

Mark Prausnitz, a regents’ professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and author of the research paper, said in a statement to EurekAlert, “Because we are using a well-established contraceptive hormone, we are optimistic that the patch will be an effective contraceptive. We also expect that possible skin irritation at the site of patch application will be minimal, but these expectations need to be verified in clinical trials.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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ML Interest Tag: contraceptive

The Male Birth Control Pill Is Officially One Step Closer to Reality

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