Vaccines against fertility
Raghupathy, R.; Talwar, G.P.
Current Opinion in Immunology 4(5): 597-602
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0952-7915 PMID: 1418725 DOI: 10.1016/0952-7915(92)90033-bDocument Number: 335266
Birth control vaccines, once proven to be safe, effective, and reversible, may be superior to available methods in terms of the reduced number of doses required, the lack of administration of pharmacological agents, and the absence of risk due to improper use. The reproductive process can be interrupted by immune effectors at several points, making several potential birth control vaccines possible. For example, pregnancy can be blocked by immune effectors which can either inactivate an hormone which is indispensable to reproduction or counteract a gamete antigen crucial for gamete development and/or fertilization. First evidence of a birth control vaccine in humans has emerged from Phase II trials on the human chorionic gonadotrophin vaccine in India. Several sperm antigens have been identified as potential contraceptive immunogens and zona pellucida antigens have been reported which reversibly control fertility. Several problems still have to be resolved before fertility control vaccines become available for routine use, but research is nonetheless yielding encouraging results. Sections discuss human chorionic gonadotrophin vaccines, gonadotropin releasing hormone vaccine, carrier-induced suppression, sperm antigen vaccines, egg antigens, other candidate immunogens, and future perspectives.