This could be good news for all women looking for an alternative to hormonal contraception. US scientists are currently working on a new type of contraceptive based on anti-sperm antibodies, the site reports Science Alert, Friday August 13. This new study was published in Science Translational Medicine.
The team of researchers from the University of North Carolina has thus been interested in the anti-sperm antibodies produced by certain women suffering from immune infertility. “Their reproductive system vigorously traps motile sperm in the mucus and prevents them from reaching the egg,” the scientists explain.
New engineered anti-sperm antibodies show strong potency and stability and can trap mobile sperm with 99.9% efficacy in a sheep model, suggesting the antibodies could provide an effective, nonhormonal female #contraception method. @A C #ReproductiveBiology https://t.co/fZX37bt2gg pic.twitter.com/AHzThmN4qX
– Science Translational Medicine (@ScienceTM) August 17, 2021
Avoid the many side effects
The researchers thus created modified antibodies that would be eight times more effective. The latter would then succeed in capturing the sperm and prevent them from moving. This is called the “agglutination” process. Concretely, these antibodies would be implanted directly in the vagina via a film with rapid dissolution or intravaginal rings which would allow their constant release.
This new method of contraception should therefore make it possible to avoid the many side effects of hormonal contraceptives (weight gain, migraines, mood swings, depression, etc.) as well as the possible risks of blood clots, or even breast cancer. But it could also have other advantages.
“Rather than modifying the physiological mechanisms underlying fertility such as hormones, immunocontraception should allow a rapid return to fertility, unlike the months of delay experienced by some women after having stopped using hormonal contraceptives. long-acting, ”the researchers said in their study. For the time being, the first tests carried out on sheep have shown an efficiency greater than 99%. But large-scale clinical trials have yet to be carried out on humans before this new contraceptive is marketed.