New discovery could open door to male birth control
Fuel for the finish line: How sperm achieve ‘overdrive’
BEEN PROMISING THIS FOR OVER SIXTY SOME YEARS!
MEN ARE SNOWFLAKES PILL MUST BE PERFECT
Michigan State University
Oct. 10, 2025
Why this matters:
- To successfully reach and fertilize an egg, sperm undergo a rapid and massive increase in energy.
- Researchers have revealed how sperm use glucose found in their environment to fuel these impressive metabolic changes.
- These findings are helping reshape our understanding of reproductive science and could lead to improved treatment of infertility and new methods of contraception.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University scientists have pinpointed the molecular “switch” that supercharges sperm for their final sprint to an egg — a breakthrough that could reshape infertility treatments and pave the way for safe, nonhormonal male contraceptives.
“Sperm metabolism is special since it’s only focused on generating more energy to achieve a single goal: fertilization,” said Melanie Balbach, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and senior author of the paper.
Before ejaculation, mammalian sperm rest in a low-energy state. Afterward, as they swim through the female reproductive tract, they undergo a series of changes that ultimately help them reach and fertilize an egg. These include swimming with quick, vigorous movements, as well as a change to the membranes that will encounter an egg.
“Many types of cells undergo this rapid switch from low to high energy states, and sperm are an ideal way to study such metabolic reprogramming,” said Balbach, who, in 2023, brought her pioneering science on sperm metabolism to MSU.
As a postdoctoral researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine, Balbach drove the headline-making discovery that the inhibition of a crucial sperm enzyme rendered mice temporarily infertile. This breakthrough raised the exciting potential for a nonhormonal male birth control.
Metabolism is similarly essential for sperm function, and while scientists knew that behavioral changes prior to fertilization required a large amount of energy, they weren’t sure how sperm adjusted to meet the demand — until now.
Teaming up with scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Van Andel Institute, Balbach’s group created a special technique that allowed them to track the metabolism of glucose, which sperm take up from their environment and use as a sort of fuel.
By tracing the chemical journey of glucose within sperm, they observed key differences between dormant and active specimens.
“You can think of this approach like painting the roof of a car bright pink and then following that car through traffic using a drone,” Balbach explained.
“In activated sperm, we saw this painted car moving much faster through traffic while preferring a distinct route and could even see what intersections the car tended to get stuck at,” she added.
By leveraging facilities such as MSU’s Mass Spectrometry and Metabolomics Core, the study paints a fuller picture of the high-energy, multistep process required for sperm to reach their goal of fertilization.
This includes the discovery that a particular enzyme called aldolase helps sperm convert glucose into energy and that sperm even utilize molecular fuel that they already have on board when they begin their trek.
The experiments also revealed how some enzymes regulate the flow of glucose like traffic controllers.
Looking ahead, Balbach will continue to explore how sperm use a variety of fuel sources like glucose and fructose to meet their energy needs. This research can potentially impact a number of reproductive health issues.
With one in six individuals impacted by infertility globally, Balbach sees the analysis of sperm metabolism as an especially promising research direction for improving both assisted fertility techniques and the diagnosis of infertility in patients.
This work can also help develop new methods of contraception like nonhormonal birth control.
“Better understanding the metabolism of glucose during sperm activation was an important first step, and now we’re aiming to understand how our findings translate to other species, like human sperm,” Balbach said.
“One option is to explore if one of our ‘traffic-control’ enzymes could be safely targeted as a nonhormonal male or female contraceptive,” she added.
The traditional development of male contraceptives has focused on blocking sperm at their creation. This approach, however, comes with notable drawbacks. The process of becoming infertile is far from on demand, and such contraceptives are commonly hormone-based, leading to many severe side effects.
The latest findings from Balbach and her collaborators are paving the way for a sperm metabolism-centered solution to these challenges: an inhibitor-based, nonhormonal method of contraception that would allow for on-demand male infertility with little to no side effects.
“Right now, about 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned, and this would give men additional options and agency in their fertility,” Balbach said. “Likewise, it creates freedom for those using female birth control, which is hormone-based and highly prone to side effects.
“I’m excited to see what else we can find and how we can apply these discoveries.”
Appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Michigan State University-led project was supported by funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
By Connor Yeck
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Male infertility in Indian men linked to lifestyle choices and hormonal imbalances
image:
Figure 1. Distribution of primary and secondary infertility by male age group. Primary infertility was more prevalent than secondary infertility in all age categories.
view moreCredit: Copyright: © 2025 Chamanmalik et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
“Lifestyle habits and hormonal imbalances significantly affect the fertility of men.”
BUFFALO, NY — October 10, 2025 — A new research paper was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on September 30, 2025, titled “Lifestyle and hormonal factors affecting semen quality and sperm DNA integrity: A cross-sectional study.”
In this study, Saniya Imtiyaz Chamanmalik, Rajendra B. Nerli, and Pankaja Umarane from KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research and Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre discovered that some lifestyle choices and hormone changes can significantly impact men’s reproductive health. These findings are especially important as male infertility continues to increase in India and around the world.
Infertility affects one in six couples globally, with male-related factors contributing to nearly half of all cases. This study addressed a major research gap in India by examining how modifiable behaviors and hormone levels influence semen quality and the genetic integrity of sperm.
The researchers studied 278 Indian men aged 21 to 50. Nearly half of the participants showed abnormal semen parameters. While older age did not reduce semen volume or motility, men over 40 had higher levels of sperm DNA fragmentation, a key marker of genetic damage and reduced fertility potential.
The study found strong associations between poor lifestyle choices and reduced sperm function. Tobacco and alcohol use significantly lowered sperm count, motility, and shape. Alcohol also increased sperm DNA fragmentation, which could negatively affect embryo development. Men exposed to high temperatures at work had more DNA-damaged sperm, showing the harmful impact of heat. Body weight also played a major role: both underweight and overweight men had lower semen quality and higher DNA damage compared to men of normal weight.
“Tobacco and alcohol use were strongly associated with reduced sperm concentration, motility, and morphology (p < 0.001).”
In addition to lifestyle factors, the study also highlighted the role of hormones in male fertility. Men with low testosterone or high prolactin levels had worse semen profiles. Notably, low levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) were strongly associated with higher sperm DNA fragmentation. Since AMH is produced by cells that support sperm development, it may serve as a useful new marker of sperm health. Levels of other hormones like FSH and LH remained stable, suggesting that targeted hormone testing could improve fertility assessment.
This study used the most recent World Health Organization guidelines for semen analysis and included advanced exams for sperm DNA fragmentation. The results suggest that traditional semen testing may miss important indicators of fertility. Including lifestyle evaluation and hormone profiling could help identify reproductive problems earlier and lead to more effective treatments.
While the study was limited to a single center and did not include long-term follow-up, it provided valuable information about the growing challenge of male infertility in India. The findings support public health efforts to promote healthier lifestyles and regular hormone screening. Future research may help determine whether lifestyle changes or hormone therapies can repair sperm damage and improve fertility outcomes.
Continue reading: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncoscience.627
Correspondence to: Rajendra B. Nerli – rajendranerli@yahoo.in
Abstract video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRGuhSISlOA
Keywords: male infertility, lifestyle risk factors, sperm chromatin dispersion test, sperm DNA fragmentation, reproductive hormones
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Oncoscience
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Article Title
Lifestyle and hormonal factors affecting semen quality and sperm DNA integrity: A cross-sectional study
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