Cellular castration

Unlike surgical and chemical castration which cut off function to steroidogenisis and spermatogenosis, if castration can be induced at the cellular level, it might be possible to "semi-castrate" without forgoing complete fertility. Testosterone is produced in the leydig cells when signaled by luteinizing hormone (LH). Chemical castration works by eventually cutting off LH but it is expensive. Since spermatogensis can only happen in the presense of LH & FSH, cutting off LH means a lead to infertility. There are around 800 seminiferous tubules per testicle. Based on some histology literature, about 5 leydig cells are present per every seminiferous tubule. That gives us 8000 leydig cells per every male genital. How these 8000 leydig cells can be eradicated cellularly holds the key to shutting down testosterone supply. Two hypothetical procedures are proposed to this end.

1) Laser Laser requires no surgical incision to be performed, therefore it does not come with complications such as infection, inflammation or bleeding. Laser hair removal is already readily available. In some parts of the world, operating laser equipment for hair or tattoo removal requires no medical licensing requirement. Although laser used for hair removal might be different from that used successfully for our purpose due to wavelength or wattage, the principle behind the mechanism is the same. To begin the procedure, the testicles are treated with ice to shrink their sizes and target surface area. Shrinking the testicles will serve to ease the pain, speed up the procedure (less laser zap less pain) and allow more tissue depth exposure to laser. Finally, before-and-after saliva sample can be taken to compare testosterone level. The procedure might require several out-patient visits but it is still cheaper and less likely more painful. But dont forget the function of making baby is intact.

2) Injection with EDS - refer to following publication for more details. Injection is a little bit tricky to perform. Laser and chemical injection are both hit and miss in nature but in order to destroy all leydig cells with injection, the whole testicle has to be saturated for a certain period of time. The chemical reabsorbed into bloodstream might have toxic effect to the rest of the body. Injection therefore might not work any better than wrapping the testicles with plastic wrap delivering same chemical, such as ketoconazole 2% shampoo ( testosterone inhibitor) and methanol o/ Emu Oil (penetration enhancer), through transdermal route.

"In vitro effects of ethylene-dimethane sulfonate (EDS) on Leydig cells: inhibition of steroid production and cytotoxic effects are dependent on species and age of rat. - Rommerts FF, Teerds KJ, Hoogerbrugge JW Mol Cell Endocrinol 1988 Jan;55(1):87-94. "