Almost ready the male contraceptive gel: they have already started the tests in pairs

Last week, a clinical process funded by the UN Secretary-General. Needs started, which will teach 240 couples over two years to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a new contraceptive gel. masculine. Couples, young and well, come from seven countries of the world.

The medication is based on progestogens. A group of hormones that are used in female contraceptives and have long been known to reduce the sperm to indistinguishable infertility levels.

Dr. Thema Blithhe, Head of the Nichd Contraceptive Development Program, expressed the advantages of this method:

"Many women can not use hormonal contraception and male contraceptive methods are limited to vasectomy and condoms. A safe, high-effective and reversible method of male contraception would cover an important public health need. "

Nichd is the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the organs behind the possibly revolutionary method. The other entity in charge is the NGO called the Population Council. POr, the substance has the name of NES / TI

According to Nih, the yellow formulation includes the hormone progesterone known as sezezoster acetate, in combination with testosterone. In fact, it is applied to the back and shoulders and absorbed by the skin. Progestin "blocks the natural production of testosterone in the tests, Reducing sperm production to low or non-insistent levels. "

More impressive is the fact that testosterone replacement seems to be normal levels of sexual desire, As well as other functions that depend on the proper levels of the hormone in the blood.

The evaluation consists in applying the gel for 4-5 weeks to determine if the volunteers can tolerate the substance And to carry out the effects of side effect. If no suitable reduction is seen, the volunteer will continue to use the gel for 16 weeks.

Supported by previous results, the 240 people in the study will have to apply the gel daily on their arms and shoulders for 20 weeks. That is the time estimated to reduce the sperm mass to a minimum. After that, they will spend one year if they use another contraceptive method and after six months without applying the drug to control the sperm count again.

Once the production of sperm has declined to the level of contraception, then the phase in which the effectiveness of this method will be evaluated begins; This phase would last 52 weeks. In this period, the pair will leave out only the gel as the only contraceptive method.

At the end of the 52 weeks, people will carry out periodic assessments for an additional 24 weeks. If the results are positive, this product can reach the market in a few years.

There is already a similar gel, but it is not actual

For several years, along with the previous project, too A gel that acts as an alternative to a reversible vasectomy has been developed, proved to be 100 percent effective in a recent study.

The substance, That in a first stage was tested with monkeys, fLong-term United and proved to be a reliable male contraceptive And sure.

The product is called Vasallel and has been tested in rabbits before success with Rhesus Macax. Researchers hope that, in the future, this gel can be an alternative to reversible vasectomy for humans. The study is published in the Open Access Journal, Cause and Clinical Andrology.

Vasalgel is a non-toxic and non-hormonal gel that sAnd included in the VS Supernatants, which are the tubes by which the semen goes from the testicles to the penis. The gel feels the internal cavities of the ducts and acts as a barrier to sperm. LPrevious studies in rabbits have proven that the procedure is easily reversible, By soluble the gel with ultrasound.

"Vasallel promises to be a real alternative to vasectomy because research with rabbits has shown that the product is reversible," said the Church Science, Kentucky Vandeworth, of the California National Primat Research Center, said in a statement. "Although it is possible to reverse vasectomy, it is a technically challenging procedure and patients often have low fertility rates after reversal."