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Developed in conjunction with San Diego-based ZabBio, the Human Contraception Antibody (HCA) was tested on sperm from normal, healthy volunteers in a variety of concentrations and under different conditions in vitro.<\/p>\n
Within 15 seconds, the sperm became immobilized and firmly agglutinated, or stuck together.<\/p>\n
Some men and women naturally generate these ‘antisperm antibodies’ in their genital secretions, rendering them infertile.<\/p>\n
But Deborah Anderson, a professor of medicine at BU and co-author of a new paper in The Lancet, said HCA could be administered vaginally in a dissolvable film ‘for a woman-controlled, on-demand method of birth control.’<\/p>\n
The antibody did not cause vaginal inflammation in lab-tissue culture tests, the researchers said, and is now being tested in a Phase I clinical trial on human subjects.<\/span><\/p>\n Approximately 65 percent of US women between the ages of 15\u201349 use some form of contraception, according to\u00a0the Guttmacher Institute.<\/p>\n But birth control pills require good adherence and can cause side effects, while barrier methods have their own drawbacks: IUDs can be painful to insert and may intensify menstrual cramps, while diaphragms are less effective at preventing pregnancy,\u00a0<\/span>Planned Parenthood reported.<\/p>\n ‘HCA could be used by women who do not use currently available contraception methods and may have a significant impact on global health,’ Anderson said.<\/p>\n It could also be combined with other antibodies\u2014such as those that combat HIV and Herpes simplex virus\u2014to create a gel that combines a contraceptive and protection against sexually transmitted infections.<\/p>\n