PULLMAN, Wash.
A Washington State University-led research team recently showed that blocking prostate-specific-antigen in human ejaculate samples caused the semen to remain in its thick gel form, trapping the majority of the sperm.
Currently over-the-counter contraceptives such as condoms and spermicides have an average 13% to 21% failure rate, the study authors noted.
The WSU team has been working on this contraceptive method since 2015 after it was accidentally discovered that some of the female mice in a different reproductive study could not get pregnant; upon investigating further, the researchers discovered the male’s semen was staying in solid form.
They chose PSA because it is the primary active protein in liquefication and secreted in large quantities from the prostate gland, which is present in humans but not in mice.
“The semenogelins create a gel-like network with a fine mesh of proteins which traps the sperm.
The next step is to identify more specific small molecule inhibitors that would effectively prevent PSA’s ability to liquefy semen without any detrimental side effects.