Man Stuff

Many a careful couple has pondered this age-old question: Why can't guys take a birth control pill?

Why do women have to suffer headaches, nausea and weight gain while men get to laugh at Viagra commercials during football games? Hmm?

There are a variety of reasons, of course. But to the relief of women everywhere, the discovery of a new gene involved in sperm production could lead to just such a contraceptive.

For many men, sexual health focuses on impotence - guys are often more concerned about getting their "boys" off the diving board, as it were, than they are about the boys' ability to swim. Unless, of course, the men are trying to become fathers.

The American Fertility Association says one in six couples is affected by infertility, and the man is the main factor about half the time. Sperm defects are frequently to blame. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University just discovered a gene involved with sperm production that may explain why the boys sometimes can't swim. The team says the discovery could also lead to contraceptives for guys.

To understand why, it helps to know a little bit about how sperm works.

It's produced in a three-step process called spermatogenesis. During the final step, DNA is packaged into the sperm head and the sperm gets a tail, among other changes. In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, VCU School of Medicine researchers announced sterile mice lacked a certain protein involved in that last step, and the sperm never fully matured.

The protein, called meiosis expressed gene 1, or MEIG1, is apparently key to male fertility, the researchers say in a press release. They also found it works in concert with another gene protein, which is also reduced in MEIG1-deficient mice. Together, the two proteins produce a unique, temporary structure called the -- ahem -- manchette, which helps lengthen the sperm's tail.

"The absence of a normal manchette in mice lacking MEIG1 totally disrupts the maturation process of sperm," says Dr. Jerome F. Strauss III, dean of the VCU School of Medicine, who co-wrote the study with Dr. Zhibing Zhang, assistant professor in the VCU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "In addition to having an impact on fertility, the discovery identifies a new target for drug discovery for a much-needed reversible male method of contraception," Strauss added in the press release.

It is the second such finding this year. In April, a team of researchers from the University of Iowa and the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in Tehran, Iran, found a different gene protein whose absence or mutation also leads to infertility.

That gene, called CATSPER1, affects sperm motion - basically, sperm with a CATSPER1 mutation can't swim forcefully enough to enter the egg.

Now, how do you use this information to make a male version of the Pill?

Possible methods include an immunocontraceptive, wherein special antibodies are introduced that bind to a targeted protein and inhibit it. That way, people with normal MEIG1 or CATSPER1 genes would experience the same result as someone with mutated genes. Immunocontraceptives are being used to control populations of wild animals, but many more studies are needed to prove it would be safe and reversible in humans.

The jury is still out on whether a male pill would cause headaches, nausea, hot flashes or mood swings, however. But hey, if women's symptoms disappeared, would it really matter? Maybe then, women would enjoy Viagra ads, too.

[Image: A sperm and egg courtesy getfreeimages.com]

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