My boyfriend and I have recently decided that we will use condoms and spermicide for contraceptive purposes. We have begun experimenting with various brands/types of condoms, which has caused concern. Can you explain the various types of condoms, and/or the advantages/disadvantages of each, i.e., effectiveness, etc. Lambskin vs. latex vs. polyurethane??? We are monogamous and primarily concerne...

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 sugge...

The pathogenesis of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) is complex and influenced by many host biological and behavioural factors and by properties of the infecting uropathogens. Most uncomplicated UTIs in women are not associated with underlying functional or anatomical abnormalities of the urinary tract, whereas sexual intercourse, spermicide use, a history of recurrent UTI and recent...

While sperm competition risk favours males transferring many sperm to secure fertilizations, females of a variety of species actively reduce sperm numbers reaching their reproductive tract, e.g. by extrusion or killing. Potential benefits of spermicide to females include nutritional gains, influence over sperm storage and paternity, and the elimination of sperm bearing somatic mutations that wo...

The experience of 670 diaphragm users from three Brazilian clinics was retrospectively reviewed. Most of the subjects (441) followed the traditional method (TM) of using the diaphragm, only at the time of sexual intercourse and with spermicide. One third (215) used the diaphragm continuously (CU), without spermicide, removing it only at the time of their daily shower to wash it, with immediate ...

New technology was used to identify traces of a commercial barrier/spermicide in evidence from a case of a man accused of rape of a minor. Examination of vaginal swabs performed by another laboratory had been negative for seminal fluid or other sources of DNA from the suspect and we were asked to examine the remaining swabs for any traces that might have originated from the commercial product. ...

The concurrent increases in global population and sexually transmitted infection (STI) demand a search for agents with dual spermicidal and microbicidal properties for topical vaginal application. Previous attempts to develop the surfactant spermicide, nonoxynol-9 (N-9), into a vaginal microbicide were unsuccessful largely due to its inefficiency to kill microbes. Furthermore, N-9 causes damage...