Hormonal contraceptives males

See also individual agents and Hormonal contraceptives—male... 

The use of intramuscular testosterone + oral desogestrel for hormonal contraception in men is discussed in a separate monograph (Hormonal contraceptives—male). 

Xue, S. (2000). A beam of dawn light of study on gossypol as a safe, effective, and reversible male antifertility contraceptive-evaluation of the studies by using low dose gossypol combined with steroid hormone for male contraception. Zhongguo Yi Xue Ke Xue Yuan Xue Bao 22, 211-213. 

M ale and female hormones play a vital role because they aid in development and maintenance of secondary sex characteristics and are necessary for human reproduction. Although hormones are naturally produced by die body, administration of a male or female hormone may be indicated in the treatment of certain disorders, such as inoperable breast cancer, male hypogonadism, and male or female hormone deficiency. Hormones also are used as contraceptives and for treating the symptoms of menopause... 

It is to be expected that these extremely widely used oral methods of contraception will eventually be replaced by luteinizing hormone analogs as antiovulatory agents, or possibly by immunological methods directed against human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which has both LH and FSH activity. Prostaglandins also show promise, and reliable male contraception is also a future possibility. 

The one product obtained from cottonseed oil, Gossypol which is categorized as non-hormonal selective spermatogenesis suppressant, is effective in producing azoospermia or severe oligospermia but it is not widely used as male contraceptive. Mechanism of action is not known. Adverse effects are edema, diarrhoea, hypokalemia, neuritis. 

This chapter first discusses the physiologic role of the male hormones and the pharmacologic use of natural and synthetic androgens. The physiologic and pharmacologic characteristics of the female hormones are then addressed. As these discussions indicate, there are several aspects of male and female hormones that should concern physical therapists and occupational therapists. Rehabilitation patients may use these agents for approved purposes, for example, female hormones as contraceptives. These agents may also be... 

Prominent among toxicants that adversely affect both male and female reproductive systems are endocrine disruptors (see Section 9.7). Toxicants that mimic the actions of sex hormones are agonists, and those that prevent hormonal action or bind competitively to hormone receptor sites are antagonists,12 Male patients treated with cimetidine for peptic ulcers have exhibited low sperm counts and abnormal breast enlargement, a condition called gynecomastia. Gynecomastia has also been caused in men working in oral contraceptive production. Ketoconozole inhibits the enzymes required to produce hormones involved in sperm production and can immobilize sperm in seminal fluid. 

In the human female, whose pituitary hormones may be suppressed by the use of oral contraceptives, the ratio of testosterone to creatinine in urine may be used. Alternatively, a method suitable for both males and females is to measure the ratio of total testosterone to epitestosterone using gas chromatography—mass spectrometry. In this method, the bis(trimethylsilyl) derivative is formed and the intensity of the molecular ions at m/z 432, under electron impact conditions for both of the steroid derivatives, is used to determine the ratio (M. Donike and J. Zimmermann, J. Chromat, 1980, 202, 483-486). The internationally accepted limit for the ratio is currently 6. 

The structure of steroids—cholesterol, female sex hormones, male sex hormones, adrenal cortical steroids, anabolic steroids, and oral contraceptives (Section 29.8)... 

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