New Male Contraception Sounds a Lot Like Steroids

May 14

30 Month Steroid Cycle of Testosterone Safe and Effective Birth Control

NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman raved about the potential of a new male contraceptive to anchor Ann Curry on the NBC Today Show on May 6, 2009. It is purportedly better than condoms but not quite as effective as the female pill. “This one measures up pretty well,” reported Dr. Snyderman. “The fact that you can have an injection, that it works while you take, but when you stop it you get sperm counts back. That’s very interesting in the study.”

Snyderman was not alone in her enthusiasm. Other experts believed the new discovery could revolutionize male birth control. Snyderman and her colleagues were referring to a new study to be published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that involved a monthly injection to suppress sperm production. Of course, to the many individuals who are familiar with the effects of anabolic steroids, the new contraception sounded a lot like steroids. Not surprisingly, the new study utilized the long-acting anabolic steroid testosterone undecanoate in a thirty month cycle. The study showed the male contraceptive to be safe, effective and reversible. “Within the next five years, you’re going to see it [on the market],” predicted Dr. Snyderman. “It looks pretty safe.”

The study entitled “Multicenter Contraceptive Efficacy Trial of Injectable Testosterone Undecanoate in Chinese Men” was funded by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO also participated in the study design and methodology. The contraceptive efficacy study involved the use of monthly injections of testosterone undecanoate for a period of 30 months. The study used a testosterone undecanoate (TU) preparation with 250mg of TU in 2ml of tea seed (Mellaleuca) oil. The injectable steroid was manufactured by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Zhejiang Xian Ju Pharmaceutical Corporation. Study participants were injected with an initial loading dose of 1000mg testosterone undecanoate with a 4 mL injection in each buttock. Subsequent injections of 500mg (4 mL) in a single buttock were administered in monthly intervals for the next 30 months. Researchers allowed for a 6-month “suppression phase” to suppress spermatogenesis adequately; this was followed by a 24-month “efficacy phase”.

Spermatogenesis was effectively suppressed in the majority of participants. The researchers concluded that testosterone undecanoate was highly effective at preventing pregnancy with very few side effects. "For couples who can not, or prefer not to use only female-oriented contraception, options have been limited to vasectomy, condom and withdrawal," said lead researcher Dr Yi-Qun Gu of the National Research Institute for Family Planning in Beijing. "Our study shows a male hormonal contraceptive regimen may be a potential, novel and workable alternative."

Testosterone has been known to effectively suppress spermatogenesis since it was first investigated for male contraception in the 1970s. In fact, weekly injections of 200mg testosterone enanthate (TE) were then shown to be a safe and effective birth control method. Unfortunately, the short duration of action of the enanthate ester requiring weekly injections made this method of contraception "impractical". As a result, some experts have looked to the long-acting testosterone undecanoate as the solution because it only requires a monthly injection as opposed to a weekly injection.

Some experts are skeptical about the widespread adoption of testosterone undecanoate as male birth control. Most of the concerns involve issues other than safety.

“This new formulation appears to be a success,” admits Elaine Lissner of the Male Contraception Information Project. “However, hormonal male contraceptives seem to work differently in Chinese and Caucasian men,” warns Lissner. “Testosterone alone, which was used in this study, is not considered effective enough; studies in Caucasian men add a progesterone hormone to the regimen.”

"This as been known for 15 and 20 years that [testosterone injections] are quite effective and that there is a limitation that it didn't work on everybody," according to contraceptive researcher Dr. Ronald Swerdloff. "But there's another problem and the other problem is that it doesn't work right away.” It often takes as long as six months to achieve suppression of spermatogenesis.

Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies may be reluctant to invest money in testosterone as a male contraceptive since there are so many inexpensive and effective options for female birth control.

"There hasn't been success in finding a pharmaceutical company that wants to take on this approach," said Swerdloff. "The reasons for that, in my opinion, are the same reasons that in general there have been very, very few new contraceptions for men, or even for women." After all it is easier to suppress a single egg every month than millions of sperm.

Nonetheless, the medical research supporting the safety and efficacy of anabolic-androgenic steroids for male contraception is very encouraging. Androgen research supporting the relative safety of anabolic steroids will hopefully open the door to increase research interest in the potential therapeutic applications of anabolic steroids.

Sources

“Injectable Testosterone May Provide Effective Male Contraception,” May 5, 2009

“Male 'contraceptive jab' closer,” May 5, 2009

“One Step Closer to Birth Control Shot for Men,” May 5, 2009

“Birth control for men in one injection,” May 5, 2009

By Millard Baker

http://www.millardbaker.com

www.SteroidsRx.com