Clinical study of gossypol as a male contraceptive

Animal experiments conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s in various institutes of China showed that the effective antifertility agent in crude cottonseed oil was gossypol. Gossypol is a yellow substance which occurs in various parts of the cotton plant; its chemical structure is naphthol phenol. At the Capital Hospital gossypol was tested on 172 volunteers selected from hospital employees and workers from a nearby factory. All of the volunteers were under age 50, married and healthy with at least 1 child. Examinations required before treatment were general physical examination, a blood and urine analysis, an electrocardiogram, serum potassium concentration and serum analysis. 2 stages of gossypol treatment were required in the clinical study: the initial stage, the loading period, is of about 60 days. A daily dose of 20 mg gossypol was given successively for 60 days causing the sperms to become immotile, reduced in number or totally absent. A sperm count below 4 million/ml semen was considered to indicate infertility. The dosage in the 2nd stage, the maintenance period, was reduced to 1/3 of the original dose to maintain infertility. The volunteers were followed up every 2-3 months. Fatigue, decrease of libido and impaired appetite were the 3 main complaints. Serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) activities showed that the transient symptoms of fatigue and loss of appetite were not related to disturbance of liver function. The mechanism of hypokalemia induced by gossypol is probably of renal origin. Infertility induced by gossypol in contraceptive doses over a relatively short period of administration was reversed about 3 months after stopping treatment. Gossypol used as a male antifertility agent has been found to be very effective and relatively safe.     

棉酚抗生育新机制——对磷脂酶A_2活力的抑制作用(英文)

 采用微孔比色法及荧光分析法 ,研究抗男性生育化合物棉酚与猪胰腺磷脂酶A2 (phospho lipaseA2 ,PLA2 ,EC3 1 1 4 )温育并透析前后对酶活力及荧光的影响 .结果表明 ,棉酚与PLA2 不可逆地结合明显地降低了PLA2 活力及荧光强度 .棉酚对酶活力抑制作用的IC50 为 35μmol L ;当其浓度达到 80 μmol L时 ,能够完全抑制PLA2 ( 4 11μmol L)对合成底物 2 硫代十六酰乙基磷酸胆碱(HEPC ,0 .2 5mmol L)的水解作用 .PLA2 的最大激发波长与发射波长分别为 2 75nm ,34 3nm ,荧光强度与酶浓度呈良好的线性关系 .棉酚对PLA2 的荧光具有较强的淬灭作用 .由于PLA2 与男性生育密切相关 ,棉酚对PLA2 活力的影响可能是其避孕作用及伴随的副作用的一种新的重要机制     

Oxygen radical formation induced by gossypol in rat liver microsomes and human sperm

Gossypol, a polyphenolic compound found in cotton plants, has many potential uses, including use as a male antifertility drug and spermicide. Gossypol affects a variety of cell processes and many of these effects may be explained by a common underlying mechanism. Here we report that gossypol promotes the formation of oxygen radicals when incubated with rat liver microsomes and human sperm suggesting that oxygen radical production may be the underlying basis of its biological activity.     

Cytogenetic study of the effect of gossypol on mouse germ cells

The clastogenic and mutagenic activities of a new antifertility and antitumor agent gossypol were studied in the mouse male germ cells. Results of the present work indicate that at the doses 125 and 250 mg/kg the drug does not significantly increase frequencies of the micronuclei in the early spermatids and sperm head abnormalities. Hence, genotoxic influence can not be proposed as responsible for the antifertility effect of gossypol.     

Ultrastructural, fertility, and spermicidal studies with isomers and derivatives of gossypol in male hamsters

The effects of fourteen new, orally administered synthetic analogs of gossypol on testicular ultrastructure and fertility in hamsters and the spermicidal properties of these compounds, as well as of the optical isomers of gossypol against hamster and human sperm in vitro, are reported in this study. Test compounds were administered to adult male hamsters by daily gavage for 9 weeks at doses ranging from 15 to 50 mg/kg. The results of this study have demonstrated that the fourteen new gossypol analogs evaluated herein are not effective as male antifertility agents and their in vitro activity or lack of activity as spermicides is unrelated to their in vivo contraceptive potential. In addition, the results of the study suggest that (1) the isopropyl moiety of the gossypol molecule, like the aldehyde group, is essential for its mechanism of action and (2) the pathognomonic defect in the mitochondrial sheath induced by gossypol appears to be related to its unique activity as a male antifertility agent. The significance of these findings is discussed.     

Inactivation of intestinal brush-border enzymes by gossypol

Gossypol, a pigment found in cottonseed that has recently been shown to have antifertility properties, inhibited the activity of 3 intestinal brush border enzymes in a concentration-dependent manner. Suspensions of rat intestinal mucosa were incubated with various concentrations of gossypol for 45 minutes and then washed. At a concentration of 6 mg per gm mucosa, gossypol inhibited the activities of alkaline phosphatase, maltase, and sucrase by 57, 73, and 77%, respectively. Gossypol is a bifunctional agent, capable of cross-linking amino acid side chains, and its action on brush-border enzymes may be due to this mechanism. Recent investigations have demonstrated that rats fed a diet of 10-15 mg of gossypol/day/kg of body weight exhibit reduced fertility. This study suggests that a partial inhibition of brush-border enzymes may occur at doses used to cause infertility. Such a side effect should be considered in studies and treatments utilizing a gossypol diet.     

Antifertility mechanisms of gossypol acetic acid in female rats

Gossypol acetic acid was administered orally (30, 60, 90 and 120 mg/kg/day) on Days 1-5 post coitum to mature female rats. At autopsy on Day 10, pregnancy in most treated animals (6/7 and 6/8) was blocked at high doses (90 and 120 mg/kg/day respectively). As the daily dose decreased to 60 mg/kg/day half (4/8) were not pregnant. However, at a lower dose (30 mg/kg/day), or at a single dose of 200 mg/kg at Day 1 p.c., pregnancy was not blocked. The concentrations of progesterone in the serum of these females were significantly decreased except at the low dose. The numbers of implantation sites in the treated females that did remain pregnant were similar to those in control females except at the dose of 120 mg/kg/day. Gossypol did not retard the development of the preimplantation embryo or cavitation. The Pontamine Blue test revealed that the drug did not interfere with the initiation of implantation. We suggest that gossypol has an antifertility effect in the female rat because it is luteolytic and disrupts post-implantation development.     

Different pathways of cell killing by gossypol enantiomers

Gossypol, a polyphenolic, aldehyde-containing constituent of cottonseed, produced partial responses (>50% reduction in tumor size) in some patients with advanced cancer and suppressed sperm as an antifertility agent for men. This action in vivo and its novel side effect profile suggest a specific mechanism of the action of gossypol. Using the random homozygous knockout approach of Li and Cohen (1), we developed a cell line resistant to killing by gossypol, but sensitive to methotrexate and doxorubicin. It showed stereospecific resistance to killing by (-) gossypol (ED(50) 4.9 microM) compared with wild type (ED(50) 2.0 microM). The resistant and wild-type cells were equally sensitive to (+) gossypol (ED(50) 8.8 and 8.4 microM, respectively), methotrexate, and doxyrubicin. We conclude that gossypol affects cells by a stereospecific pathway for (-) gossypol, possibly related to its selective effects, and a nonstereospecific pathway for (+) gossypol and higher concentrations of (-) gossypol. Further knowledge about the stereospecific pathway may lead to new therapeutic drugs.     

Binding of 3H-gossypol in organelles of cultured bovine luteal cells.

Gossypol is an antifertility agent which inhibits steroidogenesis in both sexes. The present study investigated the binding of gossypol in organelles of cultured bovine luteal cell to elucidate its inhibitory site of action in steroid biosynthesis. Cultured bovine luteal cells were incubated with 3H-gossypol (4.3 or 2.15 microM) for 3 hours. At the end of treatment, cultured bovine luteal cells were harvested, homogenized and centrifuged for organelle preparation. The radioactivity of gossypol was measured in each subcellular fraction. The cell membrane fraction has the highest binding capacity for gossypol, and the majority of gossypol was located in the particulate fractions. Results of the present study provide information in understanding the regulatory mechanism of gossypol on antisteroidogenic and/or toxic effects in cultured bovine luteal cells.     

Variable sister-chromatid exchange response in human lymphocytes exposed in vitro to gossypol acetic acid

Gossypol has potential for widespread use as a male oral antifertility agent in humans since it appears to be highly efficacious, with reversible spermatostatic effects and minimal side effects. Furthermore, it is both inexpensive and readily available. Therefore, a thorough understanding of gossypol's genotoxic potential is critical. Although genotoxicity studies have produced conflicting reports, increased sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) and DNA-strand breaks have been reported in human cells exposed to gossypol in vitro. In the present study, SCE was examined in purified human lymphocytes and whole blood cultures exposed to gossypol acetic acid at various concentrations in serum-free medium. A small but statistically significant increase in SCE was observed in pooled analysis of 7 donors in whole blood cultures exposed to 0.70 microM gossypol acetic acid (p less than 0.02). Individual analyses revealed only one donor with a significant SCE response (p less than 0.001). In subsequent experiments, exposure at higher doses had no effect on SCE frequencies. A small but significant increase in SCE was observed in ficoll/hypaque purified lymphocytes exposed to 0.07 and 0.70 microM gossypol acetic acid. Interpretation of SCE data with variable response is discussed.     

Binding of gossypol to purified tubulin and inhibition of its assembly into microtubules

Gossypol is a polyphenolic pigment, which is employed as a male antifertility drug. It inhibits, among other reported effects, the growth of cultured mammalian cells, spermiogenesis, flagellar motility in Trypanosoma and sperm, dynein ATPase and the lactate dehydrogenase X (LDH-X) isozyme. We have characterized the non-covalent binding of gossypol to purified calf brain tubulin in 10 mM phosphate buffer, 0.1 mM GTP pH 7.0 at 25 degrees C. Equilibrium measurements were performed by difference spectroscopy. A peak at 435 nm was produced by the perturbation of gossypol light absorption upon binding to tubulin. The experimental isotherm was fitted by 1.96 +/- 0.06 gossypol binding sites per tubulin molecule, with identical apparent equilibrium binding constants of (7.5 +/- 1.1) X 10(4) M-1. The complex formed could be separated from free gossypol by gel chromatography. Binding of gossypol was independent of the presence of 0.1 mM GTP in the buffer. Gossypol did not affect the binding of ligands to the colchicine site. Gossypol interacted with vinblastine but apparently did not bind to the vinblastine sites of tubulin. Gossypol did not displace anilinonaphthalene sulphonate (ANS) bound to tubulin, but caused a strong (fivefold) quenching of its fluorescence. This indicated that gossypol probably binds in the vicinity of the ANS site of tubulin. Gossypol inhibited in vitro microtubule assembly at the same concentration range employed in the binding studies. An increase in the critical protein concentration required for polymerisation was observed, most simply interpreted by a stoichiometric mechanism. Gossypol did not induce any noticeable distortion of the microtubules observed under the electron microscope. This compound constitutes a new tubulin ligand and an inhibitor of microtubule assembly in vitro.     

Alloxan cytotoxicity in vitro. Microscope photometric analyses of Trypan Blue uptake by pancreatic islet cells in suspension.

Suspensions of islet cells were prepared by shaking pancreatic islets from non-inbred ob/ob mice in a Ca2+-free buffer. The cells were incubated with or without 20 mM-alloxan, and subsequently with Trypan Blue. The uptake of Trypan Blue by cell nuclei was analysed by microscope photometry and by counting the frequency of cells appearing stained on visual inspection. Cells classified as stained or unstained by inspection showed no overlap in nuclear absorbance. Suspensions not exposed to alloxan contained 70-80% of unstained cells. Alloxan markedly decreased the frequency of unstained cells, an effect counteracted by 5 or 20 mM-D-glucose. The spectrum of Trypan Blue in islet-cell nuclei was red-shifted by about 20 nm. A similar red-shift was observed on adding the dye to solutions of albumin or histones, but not on mixing the dye with DNA. Binding to basic proteins may explain the concentrative uptake of Trypan Blue in dead cells and contribute to the oncogenic transformation of phagocytotically active cells. Beta-Cells in vitro are killed by alloxan and hence represent a valid model for studying the diabetogenic action of the drug.     

Effects of gossypol acetic acid on the absorptive and digestive functions of rat intestine

Oral administration of Gossypol acetic acid (10 mg/kg body wt./day, daily for 15 days), an experimental antifertility agent to male rats, caused significant reduction in the uptake of glucose, alanine, leucine and calcium in the small intestinal segments. Gossypol also caused significant decrease in the intestinal brush border membrane--associated enzymes, sucrase, lactase, maltase and alkaline phosphatase. Kinetic analysis indicated that Gossypol decreased the apparent velocity of the disaccharidases while the Km was not altered. It also caused a shift in the transition temperature in these enzymes and predictably changed the energy of activation both below and above the transition temperature, although the Arrhenius expressions of the temperature dependence still showed proximity and were parallel to the control group.     

Gossypol inhibition of acrosin and proacrosin, and oocyte penetration by human spermatozoa

Gossypol, a known antispermatogenic agent, was found to effectively inhibit the highly purified boar sperm proacrosin-acrosin proteinase enzyme system by irreversibly preventing the autoproteolytic conversion of proacrosin to acrosin and reversibly inhibiting acrosin activity. The agent appears to prevent the self-catalyzed by not the acrosin-catalyzed activation of proacrosin. In additional experiments, brief exposure of human semen to concentrations of gossypol, which did not visibly alter spermatozoal motility or forward progression, was found to irreversibly inhibit the conversion of proacrosin to acrosin although the activity of the nonzymogen acrosin was not decreased, and also to prevent the human spermatozoa from penetrating denuded hamster oocytes. Gossypol inhibition of proacrosin conversion to acrosin closely paralleled the decline in oocyte penetration. Racemic (+/-) gossypol was equally as effective as the enantiomer (+) gossypol. The results suggest that the inhibition of proacrosin conversion to acrosin is a mechanism by which gossypol exerts its antifertility effect at nonspermicidal concentrations and that low levels of gossypol should be tested for their contraceptive action when placed vaginally.     

The effect of gossypol on the frequency of DNA-strand breaks in human leukocytes in vitro

Gossypol, a human antifertility agent isolated from the cotton plant, was found to induce a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of DNA-strand breaks in human leukocytes exposed to 2-40 micrograms/ml of the drug for 1 h in serum-free medium in vitro. DNA-strand breaks were studied by alkaline elution or alkaline unwinding of DNA followed by hydroxylapatite-chromatography. No decrease of gossypol-induced DNA-strand breaks was observed after post-treatment incubation times up to 24 h, whereas X-ray-induced DNA breaks disappeared within 2 h under the same incubation conditions. Cells exposed to gossypol in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum showed no or little increase of DNA breaks, suggesting that serum proteins inhibit the DNA-damaging activity of the drug. Both optical isomers of gossypol induced DNA-strand breaks. However, the effect of (-)-gossypol was only about half of that of (+)-gossypol and the racemic form. The induction and persistence of DNA-strand breaks by gossypol, as well as the reduction of this effect in the presence of serum should be considered in the evaluation of the potential in vivo genotoxicity of the drug.     

Inhibition of testicular LDH-X from laboratory animals and man by gossypol and its isomers

The inhibitory effect of (+)-, (-)-, (+/-)-gossypol and (+/-)-gossypol acetic acid upon testicular cytosolic LDH-X was measured in vitro. Gossypol acetic acid (0-100 mumol/l) inhibited LDH-X prepared from the testes of the mouse greater than rabbit greater than human greater than rat greater than hamster. There was no relationship between inhibition and in-vivo antifertility activity. LDH activity measured in vitro in serum of men and hamsters was unaffected by gossypol. Gossypol and its isomers were non-competitive inhibitors of human and hamster LDH-X with respect to the coenzyme NADH, competitive inhibitors of human LDH-X and noncompetitive-competitive inhibitors of hamster LDH-X with respect to the substrate alpha-ketobutyrate. Co-incubation with human serum albumin or poly-L-lysine but not lysine protected human and hamster LDH-X from gossypol.     

Effect of gossypol on intracellular Ca2+ regulation in human hepatoma cells

Gossypol is a natural toxicant present in cottonseeds, and is hepatotoxic to animals and human. The effect of gossypol on cytosolic free Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]i) in HA22/VGH human hepatocytes was explored using fura-2 as a fluorescent Ca2+ indicator. Gossypol increased [Ca2+]i in a concentration-dependent manner with an EC50 value of 2 microM. The Ca2+ signal was reduced by removing extracellular Ca2+ or by 10 microM La3+, but was not affected by nifedipine, verapamil or diltiazem. Pretreatment with 1 microM thapsigargin (an endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump inhibitor) to deplete the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ partly reduced 10 microM gossypol-induced Ca2+ release; and conversely pretreatment with gossypol abolished thapsigargin-induced Ca2+ release. The Ca2+ release induced by 10 microM gossypol was not changed by inhibiting phospholipase C with 2 microM U73122 or by depleting ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ stores with 50 microM ryanodine. Together, the results suggest that in human hepatocytes, gossypol induced a [Ca2+]i increase by causing store Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum in a phospholipase C-independent manner, and by inducing Ca2+ influx.     

The (+)- and (−)-gossypols potently inhibit human and rat 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2

Gossypol has been proven to be a very effective male contraceptive. However, clinical trials showed that the major side effect of gossypol was hypokalemia. Gossypol occurs naturally as enantiomeric mixtures of (+)-gossypol and (−)-gossypol. The (−)-gossypol is found to be the active component of antifertility. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (11βHSD2) has been demonstrated to be a mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) protector by inactivating active glucocorticoids including corticosterone (CORT) in rats, and therefore mutation or suppression of 11βHSD2 causes hypokalemia and hypertension. In the present study, the potency of gossypol enantiomers was tested for the inhibition of 11βHSD1 and 2 in rat and human. Both (+) and (−)-gossypols showed a potent inhibition of 11βHSD2 with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 0.61 and 1.33 μM for (+) and (−)-gossypols, respectively in rats and 1.05 and 1.90 μM for (+) and (−)-gossypols, respectively in human. The potency of gossypol to inhibit 11βHSD1 was far less; the IC₅₀ was ≥100 μM for racemic gossypol. The gossypol-induced hypokalemia is likely associated with its potent inhibition of kidney 11βHSD2.     

Direct effect of gossypol on TR-ST cells: perturbation of rhodamine 123 accumulation in mitochondria

Gossypol has deleterious effects directly on TR-ST cells originating from a rat testicular tumor. Exposure of TR-ST cells to gossypol (5 micrograms/ml) decreases their rate of protein synthesis approximately 30% within 1 h and 65% by greater than 10 h, causes intracellular vacuolation, changes cell shape from cobblestone to a rounded conformation and inhibits cell proliferation. Yet, these gossypol-treated cells remain viable, as assessed by their ability to hydrolyze fluorescein diacetate. Gossypol also perturbs mitochondrial transmembrane potential in TR-ST cells, as demonstrated by marked changes in rhodamine 123 staining. Mitochondria of control TR-ST cells avidly accumulate rhodamine 123, but those in cells exposed to gossypol (greater than or equal to 5 micrograms/ml) for greater than 1 h fail to sequester the fluorochrome. Instead, the cell cytoplasm shows a light and diffuse staining with rhodamine 123. Rat spermatozoa show a similar response. Conversely, at concentrations of 20 micrograms/ml, gossypol has minimal effects on rhodamine 123 accumulation by primary cultures of hepatocytes and by rat spermatogenic cells, including primary spermatocytes and spermatids (Steps 1-12). Moreover, TR-ST cells exhibit reduced mitochondrial staining with gossypol at an ED50 of 7.6 micrograms/ml, while those for the nontesticular Rat-1, AnAn, 3T3 and PtK2 cell lines are 13.1, 21.5, 28.5 and 26.4 micrograms/ml, respectively.     

Involvement of reactive oxygen species-independent mitochondrial pathway in gossypol-induced apoptosis

Gossypol is a component present in cottonseeds and has been demonstrated to be an effective contraceptive drug in preventing spermatogenesis in mammalian species. In the present, we reported that gossypol could induce apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60), as characterized by DNA fragmentation, poly(ADP) ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage. The efficacious induction of apoptosis was observed at 50 microM for 6 h. Further molecular analysis showed that gossypol induced the truncation of Bid protein, the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi m), cytochrome c release from mitochondria into cytosol, and activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9. However, gossypol did not increase the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and antioxidants including N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and catalase could not block gossypol-induced apoptosis in the HL-60 cells. These data suggest that gossypol induces apoptosis in HL-60 cells through ROS-independent mitochondrial dysfunction pathway.