Pawpaw seeds, Hibiscus flowers and neem tree could provide the much sought after safe, effective and affordable male contraceptive that can induce reversible infertility.
IN recent times, conventional contraceptives have been in the news for the wrong reasons. Female contraceptives have been linked to stroke, cancer, irreversible infertility, among others. Researchers are also struggling to produce a widely accepted conventional male contraceptive.
However, natural product researchers have validated natural birth control methods for male and female to be safe and reversible.
India researchers have shown that pawpaw seeds extract induces long-term reversible infertility in male monkeys. Pawpaw or papaya is botanically called Carica papaya.
Other researches have demonstrated that Azadirachta indica (neem tree or dogonyaro) and Hibiscus flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) could be employed as effective male and female contraceptives.
The Indian study titled “Chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds induces long-term reversible azoospermia in langur monkey” was published in Asian Journal of Andrology.
Azoospermia is a complete absence of sperm in the ejaculate. Andrology is the medical specialty that deals with male health, particularly relating to the problems of the male reproductive system.
The researchers from the Reproductive Physiology Section, Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur–302 004, India, wrote: “The seeds of Carica papaya have been proven to possess male anti-fertility property. We have conducted a series of experiments with various extracts of the seeds of Carica papaya at different dose and duration regimens.
“Among the various extracts tested, the chloroform extract, the benzene chromatographic fraction of the chloroform extract and its methanol and ethyl acetate sub-fractions have shown reversible anti-fertility activity in rats and rabbits without adverse toxicity. It is pertinent to note that Carica papaya possesses species variation, but the seed extract tested all show sperm motility inhibitory action in rats and azoospermia in rabbits, while the aqueous extract and the chloroform chromatographic fraction of the chloroform extract showing contraceptive efficacy in rats but failed to elicit significant response in rabbits.
“In the present investigation, the chloroform extract of the seeds of Carica papaya in langur monkeys leads to azoospermia without adverse toxicity after 90 days of treatment, in a manner similar to that in rats and rabbits. The sperm functional tests indicated that the voided spermatozoa after 30 and 60 days of treatment were in the infertile range. The effect is reversible as all the semenology (study of semen) parameters returned to pretreatment levels 150 days after treatment withdrawal.
“The mechanism by which the chloroform extract of the seeds of Carica papaya brings about sperm motility inhibition/spermatogenic arrest in animals is not clear.
“Available evidences indicate that the chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds is an orally effective, safe and readily reversible anti-fertility agent that meets the essential criteria for a male contraceptive.”
Before now, women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other countries have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Enslaved women in the West Indies were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery.
Medical research in animals has confirmed the contraceptive and abortifacient (a substance that induces abortion) capability of papaya, and also found that papaya seeds have contraceptive effects in adult male langur monkeys, possibly in adult male humans as well. Unripe papaya is especially effective in large amounts or high doses. Ripe papaya is not teratogenic (able to disturb the growth and development of an embryo or foetus) and will not cause miscarriage in small amounts. Phytochemicals in papaya may suppress the effects of progesterone. Progesterone is a steroid hormone involved in the female menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryogenesis of humans and other species.
However, other methods of male contraception have shown promise. The potential use of neem leaf extracts as contraceptives is not a new idea; research on its use as a spermicide has been underway since the 1960s. Spermicide is a contraceptive substance that eradicates sperm, inserted vaginally prior to intercourse to prevent pregnancy. The injection of minute quantities of neem oil into the vas deferens (the tubes that carry sperm) has been successfully tested as an alternative to surgical vasectomy.
Various forms of neem have been studied as potential reversible male contraceptives. Male mice fed water crushed with fresh neem leaves impregnated fewer female mice and had smaller average litter sizes. Researchers obtained similar results in rats. Within 11 weeks, the animals in this study had 100 per cent effective contraception. The effects were reversed within six weeks. An equivalent body weight dosage was tested in guinea pigs and rabbits, but this dosage was toxic. After six weeks of treatment, 75 and 90 per cent of the respective animals had died.
Studies of various forms of neem for male contraception in different types of mammals have reported no changes in libido or hormonal function. Neither neem leaf extract in water nor neem leaf oil alters the rate spermatogenesis. The contraceptive effect of these two forms of neem comes from a reduction in the motility of the sperm. However, neem bark extract and neem seed oil caused arrest of spermatogenesis within two months, with a decrease in the number of Leydig cells (responsible for the manufacturing of testosterone). Although neem treatment does not trigger a systemic autoimmune response to sperm, researchers speculate that a local immune response of some kind is responsible for its contraceptive effects.
Another plant, which is currently receiving attention as a potential tool in population control is Hibiscus rosa sinensis. Flowers of this plant are said to possess anti-fertility property by ancient Ayurvedic texts. Ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. Traditional use of the flowers in Kerala (Southern India) is for its emmenagogue and contraceptive action. Emmenagogues are substances, which have the ability to provoke menstruation.
The Indian research team has found that only the flowers showed significant activity. Much modern research has shown the flowers to have a post-coital anti-fertility activity. An example is a study undertaken in 1976 that indicated that the H. rosa sinensis flowers possess significant anti-fertility activity with the effects dependant upon the dose, duration of the treatment and the stage of the pregnancy. The presence of potent anti-estrogenic activity in the flower portion may be the responsible factor in terminating pregnancy.
H. rosa sinensis has also been shown to have an impact not only on female reproduction but also on that of males. Extracts of the flowers also affect the generation of sperm as well as the endocrine function of the testes themselves.
The herbs' effect upon the male reproductive system has been studied in rats by observation of changes in weight, histology and endocrine functions.
In trying to find how the herb works, the researchers have suggested that it may be due to the inhibition of synthesis or the release of gonadotropins from the pituitary gland, a direct inhibitory effect of tested or hormonal activity. The extract given to young male rats caused a reduction in the weights of the testes, accessory reproductive organs and pituitary gland. There was a marked decrease in levels of the gonadotrophin hormones. After stopping the administration of the herb, spermatogenesis and secretory activity of accessory sex organs started again, thus indicating that the plants effects are transient.
Such a herbal remedy having a potent anti-fertility activity in women and reversible anti-spermatogenic effect in men offers the potential of a safe and acceptable aid in the drive to controlling population growth.
According to an article published in NaturalNews, “Natural Birth Control: Use Hot Water and Papaya Seeds”, “In today's society, much of the burden of birth control involves chemicals, drugs and often falls upon the women. However, it turns out the key to birth control might be better placed on men. And the good news is, you do not have to look any further than hot water and papaya seeds.
“It turns out that sperm do not like heat and by bathing, or simply submerging the testes, in 46.7 degree Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit water, just below the pain threshold) for 45 minutes each day for 21 days, a male becomes sterile for the next six months. Doing this at 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) reliably produces sterility for the next four months and either ways, it can be repeated for continued effectiveness when the allotted time is up.
“This method dates back to the writings of Hippocrates and derives its effectiveness from the fact that sperm needs to be several degrees cooler than body temperature to be viable; this is why they hang outside the body. Actually, sperm cell death happens at 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), while normal cell death happens at 42.2 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) - so this method effectively kills the sperm for a limited but extended period of time.
“In addition, papaya seeds have been found to completely remove the sperm from a male monkey's ejaculation. Rats have also been tested with a compound from papaya seeds and found to have "significantly reduced" sperm counts. At higher levels of ingestion, the rats became completely infertile. The rats' researchers then declared the long term, daily use of compounds from papaya seeds to be a safe and effective male contraceptive.
“Rabbits have also been studied with extracts from papaya seeds. After three months of daily use, the rabbits were found almost completely infertile. The extract showed no effect on their libido or organs - and the contraceptive effects were completely reversible after 45 days of non-use.
“Traditional cultures in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia have long eaten papaya seeds as an effective and safe contraceptive. It appears a teaspoon of the seeds per day is what traditional cultures use - and it takes three months of use to be fully effective. Papaya seeds have been studied more frequently on males than females as a form of contraception, but traditional cultures have used papaya seeds for both male and female contraception.
“For a simple papaya seed drink: Blend half papaya, two or three bananas and 20 to 40 papaya seeds. Add a little stevia for sweetness, if desired. Other fruit can be substituted, as desired.”
