Birth control. Typically when we hear these words we either think of condoms or hormonal medications that women use to prevent pregnancy. However when it comes to birth control, it seems as though there has always been an “unofficial” responsibility of women to be more in control of this than men. Methods such as male condoms, “pulling-out”, and vasectomies are the only ways that men commonly use to protect against unwanted pregnancy. Everything else such as, female condoms, spermicides and hormonal medications are mainly all used on women. However, there may be an option on the horizon for men to take on more responsibility in regards to birth control.
Source: https://www.invitra.com/en/birth-control-methods/
Although still in the early stages of animal trials, the compound YCT529 seems to be effective in lowering sperm count and is up to 99% effective in preventing pregnancy. The mechanism behind this novel compound is it targets a protein called retinoic-acid receptor alpha (RAR-ɑ) which is responsible for cell growth, differentiation (including sperm formation) and embryonic development. Therefore, blocking or inhibiting this protein will make men sterile without any observable side effects. The interesting part about YCT529 is that within 4-6 weeks after taking the compound, mice in the trials can father pups again. Since this compound is not affecting testosterone or any other hormones at all, there are little to no side effects being seen.
If this passes through the human trials set to begin at the end of 2022/early 2023, YCT529 can help to relieve the burden of females taking on most responsibilities of birth control and therefore leads to less women having to deal with the side effects produced by hormonal contraceptives. Once approved, it seems as though this compound will be good to take along with a form of barrier birth control such as condoms for the maximum protection against pregnancy.
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