Step toward male ‘pill’

The decades-long quest for a male equivalent to the female contraceptive pill is one step closer to success, reports CNN.com. A small new study found that dimethandrolone undecanoate, a hormone pill, lowered men’s testosterone levels and suppressed two other hormones responsible for sperm production—without any significant side effects. The research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, involved 83 men between 18 and 50 years old. Each subject was randomly assigned to take one of three different daily doses of the drug, or a placebo, for 28 days. The researchers found that those on the highest dose (400 mg) had the most dramatic reductions in their testosterone levels. While the men who took the drug gained a few pounds, and their levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, fell slightly, none of them experienced mood swings, organ damage, or any other serious side effects. Their hormone levels also recovered within days of stopping the medication. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and to determine if the hormonal changes lower sperm counts enough to prevent pregnancy. But lead author Stephanie Page calls the findings “a major step forward in the development of a once-daily ‘male pill.’”

in the brain—a hallmark of the neurodegenerative disease. This plaque usually occurs when beta-amyloid binds to metals in the brain such as iron and copper; these metals cause the protein to form clumps that can trigger inflammation and oxidation, which destroys nerve cells. In a series of experiments, the researchers found that when beta-amyloid bound to copper was exposed to betanin, oxidation dropped by up to 90 percent. “This is just a first step,” co-author Li-June Ming tells the New York Daily News. “But we hope our findings will encourage other scientists to look for structures similar to betanin, [which] could be used to synthesize drugs that could make life a bit easier for those who suffer from this disease.”