用免疫反应使雄性不育
生物谷报道：男性不育和避孕一直是研究人员关心的问题，最新一期Science研究人员报告说，一个来自睾丸的蛋白质能引起雄性猴子的免疫系统响应，使这些猴子暂时失去生育能力。Michael O'Rand和报告的合作者说，类似的方法也许能用于男性的可逆避孕法。通常的避孕方法靠干预体内激素的水平，“免疫避孕法”提供了一个另外的选择，但是迄今为止，这个方法的研究对象只限于女性。本文作者用含有来自睾丸的蛋白质Eppin的溶液处置了9只雄性猴子，其中7只猴子发生了强烈的抗体反应，丧失了生育能力。在处置停止后，这7只猴子中的5只恢复了生育能力。Eppin蛋白质与射精凝结物有关的一个物质相互作用。所以，作者推测，抵抗Eppin的抗体也许通过干预这个相互作用导致生育能力的丧失。
Various forms of birth control have been developed for women; however, there are currently few options for men. The development of male contraceptives that are effective, safe, and reversible is desired for family planning throughout the world. We now report contraception of male nonhuman primates (Macaca radiata) immunized with Eppin, a testis/epididymis-specific protein. Seven out of nine males (78%) developed high titers to Eppin, and all of these high-titer monkeys were infertile. Five out of seven (71%) high–anti-Eppin titer males recovered fertility when immunization was stopped. This study demonstrates that effective and reversible male immunocontraception is an attainable goal. This method of immunocontraception may be extended to humans.
