Research and Development of a Non-Hormonal Natural Product Based Female Contraceptive
Elizabeth V. M. Kigondu of the Center for Traditional Medicine & Drug Research (CTMDR), Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is going to be exploring extracts and compounds from plants used traditionally in Kenya and reported to have a contraceptive effect, for further development of a non-hormonal natural product based female contraceptive. In some parts of Kenya, some communities use seeds or other plant parts as antifertility agents and some of these plants have been proven scientifically to have an antifertility effect in various animal models. In a small study carried out by Elizabeth’s team at KEMRI, they were able to demonstrate that one of our indigenous plants has an antifertility effect in mice. This study has formed the basis of the current project recently funded by the Gates Foundation, through the Science for Africa Foundation, where they plan to investigate the plant further, in addition to other selected plants, to establish the safety, the mechanism of action and identify the active components in the active extracts.
