Gossypol as oral contraceptive for male: trial case report

Gossypol has been used as oral contraceptive for man in People's Republic of China. There are also some reports of studies in which gossypol acetic acid is used in animal experiments. In this study we used tablet preparation of gossypol, which is actually used as oral contraceptive for male in People's Republic of China, on a volunteer. The administration of 20 mg/day gossypol tablets for 19 days resulted in a tendency of decreasing sperm density and total sperm count, but had no effect on serum LH, FSH, PRL or testosterone. Furthermore, the volunteer had no complaints of side effects and his general laboratory findings were normal. Ten days after the termination of gossypol administration, sperm density returned to its preadministrative level. Our study suggests gossypol may be effective as a male oral contraceptive with no acute side effect.