Abstract
Fertility control is achievable by active as well as passive immunization against crucial antigens. Six vaccines, all directed against reproductive hormones have progressed to Phase I clinical trials documenting safety and reversibility of these vaccines. One vaccine, HSD-hCG, has completed the Phase II efficacy trials providing evidence that pregnancy can indeed be prevented in sexually active fertile women by antibodies at and above 50 ng/ml titres. Problems associated with birth control vaccines have been pointed out, amongst which a major unknown is the generation of adequate antibody titres in every recepient. Possible solutions have been suggested to optimize the efficacy of this vaccine. Adoption of passive immunization approach overcomes this uncertainty. Human or humanized antibodies of defined characteristics can now be obtained by recombinant technology. Given in known amounts, these would assure efficacy in near to 100% of cases. A potential application of anti-hCG antibodies would be in emergency contraception.p
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Talwar, G.P. (1999). Immuno-Contraception: Revisited. In: Gupta, S.K. (eds) Reproductive Immunology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4197-0_29
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4197-0_29
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