In our last class meeting, development of male contraception was a topic of conversation. I found this really interesting article from 2011 that talks about an effective male birth control BUT it explains that the project was abandoned when it was discovered that the compound could not be mixed with alcohol. “Unfortunately, the utility of WIN 18,446 as a contraceptive in man is hampered by the fact that men taking WIN 18,446 experience a ‘disulfiram reaction’ when they drink alcohol. Because of this, further development of WIN 18,446 as a male contraceptive was abandoned without an understanding of its mechanism of action.”
Read the full article here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370679/
I’m curious to know your thoughts about this research being stopped because although it “safely and reversibly inhibit[s] spermatogenesis,” it causes men to become ill when they drink alcohol. If this avenue of research was pursued, would it be a viable option in our society due to culture surrounding alcohol? Why or why not?
-Kari C.