Medical Health Advice

THURSDAY, April 2 (HealthDay News) — Gene mutations that cause
infertility in men could point the way to a male birth control pill,
American and Iranian researchers say.

“We have identified CATSPER1 as a gene that is involved in
non-syndromic male infertility in humans, a finding which could lead to
future infertility therapies that replace the gene or the protein. But,
perhaps even more importantly, this finding could have implications for
male contraception,” co-study author Michael Hildebrand, a postdoctoral
researcher in otolaryngology at the University of Iowa, said in a
university news release.

He and his colleagues discovered the gene mutations while analyzing the
genetics of families in Iran — where there are relatively high rates of
disease-causing gene mutations — to identify the genetic causes of
deafness.

During their study, the researchers identified two families in which
male infertility appeared to be inherited. Further investigation revealed
that both families had mutations in the CATSPER1 gene. It’s believed the
mutations affect sperm motility, the motion sperm use to enter an egg
during fertilization.

“Identification of targets such as the CATSER1 gene that are involved
in the fertility process and are specific for sperm — potentially
minimizing side effects of a drug targeting the protein’s function –
provide new targets for a pharmacological male contraceptive,” Hildebrand
said.

The study appears in the April 2 online edition of the American
Journal of Human Genetics.