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"Two chemicals found in anti-fertility folk medicines block a key step in fertilization -- the meeting of egg and sperm -- and may make effective alternatives to today's hormone-based contraceptives, which sometimes cause side effects.
The chemicals are effective at low doses that seem to have no adverse effect on egg or sperm, other than to prevent the sperm from pushing through the cells that congregate around the egg and an enveloping membrane called the zona pelucida.
They work by stopping sperm's power kick, which is normally stimulated by the hormone progesterone secreted by cells surrounding the egg and makes the sperm's tail whip forcefully to propel it toward and into the egg.
The chemicals could serve as an emergency contraceptive taken either before or after intercourse, or as a permanent contraceptive via a skin patch or vaginal ring, say researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Human sperm take about five to six hours to mature once they enter the female reproductive system, which is enough time for the drug to enter the system and block the kick.
Also, because the chemicals prevent fertilization, they may be a more acceptable alternative in the eyes of those who object to emergency contraceptives, such as Plan B, that prevent the implantation of a potentially viable fertilized egg..."
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