ピルとパッチで男性の避妊　

1999/6/18　ロイター　desogestrelという黄体ホルモンの内服と、testosteroneという男性ホルモンの皮膚貼付により3分の2の男性が無精子の状態になるという。副作用は貼付部位のかゆみぐらいらしいので将来の避妊法として期待される。

Pill/patch male contraceptive promising

SAN DIEGO, Jun 18 (Reuters Health) -- A novel combination of an oral drug plus a testosterone patch appears to be a promising male contraceptive, a study suggests.
About two-thirds of men taking the drug desogestrel in combination with the patch had complete absence of sperm in their semen, a condition known as azoospermia, according Dr. Frederick C. W. Wu and colleagues, of Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK.
The researchers, who presented the findings this week at the Endocrine Society meeting here, randomly assigned 23 men to receive testosterone via the Andropatch (SmithKline Beecham), along with either 75, 150 or 300 micrograms per day of desogestrel (Organon) for 24 weeks.
Azoospermia was not achieved in men given 75 micrograms of desogestrel, but did occur in 60% of men given 150 micrograms of the drug and 66% of those taking 300 micrograms of the drug.
``There was some degree of rebound towards the end of treatment,'' Wu told Reuters Health at the meeting. ``But overall the results are encouraging, in that this is one of the first noninjectable combinations of sex hormones to be used for male contraception.''
Testosterone levels were well maintained, the investigators observed. The most common side effect of the regimen was skin irritation, which prompted six men to withdraw from the study.
``We intend to improve the patch and use newer progestagens to try and find better combinations,'' Wu said. ``They would be delivered either separately or, even better, in a combined form, as a pill or a patch.''