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Study of the micro‐structural properties of RISUG®—A newly developed male contraceptive
Author(s) -
Kumar Sunil,
Roy Sohini,
Chaudhury Koel,
Sen Prasenjit,
Guha Sujoy K.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.31001
Subject(s) - vas deferens , biomolecule , biophysics , sperm , ionic bonding , surface charge , materials science , charge density , chemistry , nanotechnology , chemical physics , ion , andrology , biology , anatomy , physics , medicine , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
A new male contraceptive given the name RISUG® (an acronym for reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) and presently undergoing advanced clinical trials has been developed. When injected into the lumen of the vas deferens, its polyelectrolytic nature induces a surface charge imbalance on sperm membrane system leading to the leakage of enzymes essential for fertilization. Contact mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to analyze quantitatively the micro‐structural properties of RISUG® and its precipitate in various systems. Hydrolysis of the contraceptive gel resulted in the formation of pores of varying dimensions. RISUG® being a highly charged molecule, as evident from zeta potential measurements, has a tendency to form a complex with ionic biomolecules present in the seminal plasma. This is supported by the experimental observations using AFM. This RISUG®‐biomolecule complex possibly acts as an ionic trap for spermatozoa passing through the vas deferens. Micro‐structural properties of RISUG® including amplitude (root mean square, peak‐to‐valley distance, skewness and kurtosis) and spatial roughness have been studied to understand its response to various physiological conditions. Significant alterations in the surface charge distribution of the sperm cell is observed on exposure to RISUG®. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2008