Overview of the non-hormonal contraceptive
There is a new drug on the market that is showing studies that makes male infertile that is 99% effective
I am worried about the drug as it has effects on Vitamin A.
Vitamin A has important roles in the creatIon of sperm
Vitamin A is anti-inflammatory
Vitamin A is important for the immune system
Sperm production is a vital sign for male health and can be used as an early indicator that a male is becoming unhealthy
This is not medical advice, please consult your medical professional when it comes to making a decision.
To summarise what the study says
A non-hormonal drug, the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) team targeted a protein called retinoic acid receptor (RAR) alpha. They are using a chemical called YCT529 to interact with retinoic acid (which is a synthetic form of vitamin A).
A non-hormonal pill could soon expand men’s birth control options https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2022/march/non-hormonal-pill-could-soon-expand-mens-birth-control-options.html#:~:text=They%20identified%20a%20compound%2C%20which,without%20any%20observable%20side%20effects.
The new drug!
So what would it take to make males infertile. There is a new drug on the market that is a chemical known as YCT529, which is designed to interact specifically with RAR-alpha gene which makes male mice sterile with a 99% effective rate. YCT529 is the drug that acts on retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is also known as vitamin A. So it seems that the drug works by interacting with retinoic acid (vitamin A). In studies that look at how retinoic acid affects genes, we can see mice that have problems with retinoic acid and its associated gene called RAR- alpha gene show that they had fertility problems and they also showed signs of vitamin A deficiency.
Vitamin A and its importance
Vitamin A has many roles including;
Cardiogenesis- helps with the formation of heart tissues
Helps with the development of other tissues such as pancreas, kidney, lungs.
Is involved in meotic initiation for sperm which means it helps with the early stages of sperm replication
Helps with the immune system both cellular (adaptive) and humoural
Studies show vitamin A deficiency impairs aspects of response to influenza A virus infection
Vitamin A affects the RAR-alpha gene and problems with this gene has been shown to lead to a type of leukemia (cancer of the blood cells) called acute promyelocytic leukemia
So if the drug interacts with Vitamin A, why could it not cause problems in these other areas? If Vitamin A has interactions how will the medication have an effect on these functions?
As mice do not live as long as humans do the drug interactions lack the appropriate time to develop and show up in the studies?
Mice in labs do not have the same stressors that humans have such as environmental toxins, access to foods and behaviours that cause problems to our health (e.g. smoking, sleep deprivation, alcohol and drug consumption). How would the drug interact with the environment, other drugs or stressors?
If the medication has an effect on the production of sperm, how would this affect the hormones and testicles, would it compensate and cause another imbalance or potentially atrophy and then what would be the long term affects of that? ]
In summary
This is not medical advice, just some interesting findings I found and thought it might be interesting to talk about. When making any decisions please consider your circumstances and consult your doctor. It is interesting to see a new approach and from I have research and conclude that it interacts with Vitamin A and inhibits sperm production, though as the studies were done on mice and we didn’t see long term studies it will be interesting to see how it plays out and how individuals will respond.
Comments