Women have a lot of options when it comes to birth control methods than men, but several studies already attempted to develop contraceptives meant for men, from pill to gel. Now, scientists in the new study developed and tested a cocktail-inspired male contraceptive that can be reversible, and it actually shows a promising result.
Chinese scientists at the Nanchang University conducted this latest study where they have drawn inspiration from layered cocktails. They developed a colorful drink characterized by the formation of four distinct layers, and they called it a Galaxy cocktail. When heated or stirred, these layers blend into a uniform liquid. The study was published in the ACS Nano journal.
Xiaolei Wang, the lead author of the study, said they wanted to find out if they could use similar liquid layers to develop a reversible kind of contraception. The male reproductive anatomy has the so-called vas deferens - a duct that transports sperm from testicle to urethra. So basically, these four distinct layers will be injected to block vas deferens.
The layers consist of EDTA to kill the sperm, hydrogel to block the sperm, and two layers of gold nanoparticles. The contraception method can be reversed through the use of a near-infrared lamp wherein it can dissolve the layers. Researchers tested this by injecting the vas deferens of male rats and it shows a promising result. The team has found male rats couldn't impregnate female rats for more than 60 days.
Then, they were able to reverse the injection by using the near-infrared lamp on rats, it mixed and dissolved the layers allowing the rats to restore fertility and produce offspring. The layers of the Galaxy cocktail don't mix due to the intermediate bubble drink located at the top and bottom region. This is just a temporary result, but drink mixes into a uniform liquid.
If applicable to humans, men can reverse the contraception and can restore fertility using a near-infrared lamp for about five minutes to irradiate the area, which can be done at home. Dr. Wang also explained the contraceptive period can be controlled since it varies on the injection dose. He added the quality of sexual life will not be affected during the contraceptive period.
However, although it shows a promising result, the research is still in the early stages of development. The contraceptives' efficacy needs to be tested to other species to find out whether the might suffer from short-term or long-term danger after being injected. Thus, further research is still needed before it can be tested on humans.
