For years, scientists have been trying to develop a safe and effective version of the pill for men, and a new drug candidate could be the contraceptive we've been looking for.

多年来，科学家们一直在努力开发出一种安全有效的男性避孕药，一种新的候选药物可能就是我们一直在寻找的避孕药。

Now, scientists in the US announced that an experimental oral drug called 11-beta-MNTDC looks to be safe and tolerable, based on results from a phase 1 clinical trial involving 40 men.

现在，美国科学家宣布，一种名为11-β- mntdc的实验性口服药物看起来是安全且可耐受的，这是基于40名男性参与的一期临床试验的结果。

"Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido," says male reproduction biologist Christina Wang from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).

洛杉矶生物医学研究所(LA BioMed)的男性生殖生物学家Christina Wang说:“我们的研究结果表明，这种将两种激素活动结合在一起的药物，将在保持性欲的同时降低精子产量。”

In the clinical trial, Wang and her team recruited 40 healthy men.

在临床试验中，王和她的团队招募了40名健康男性。

For 28 days, 30 of these participants took a low or higher daily dose of the 11-beta-MNTDC, while the remaining 10 men took a placebo.

在28天的时间里，其中30名参与者每天服用低剂量或高剂量的11-β- mntdc，而其余10名男性则服用安慰剂。

11-beta-MNTDC is a modified form of testosterone with both progestational (in effect, sperm-blocking) and androgenic (hormone-balancing) characteristics.

mntdc是一种改良的睾丸激素，具有孕激素(实际上是精子阻断)和雄激素(激素平衡)的特征。

"Since testosterone production is shut down in the testes, the androgen action in the rest of the body maintains 'maleness' elsewhere, supporting things like male pattern hair, deep voice, sex drive and function, and lean body mass," explained one of the team, endocrinologist Stephanie Page from the University of Washington.

研究小组成员之一、华盛顿大学内分泌学家斯蒂芬妮·佩奇解释说:“由于睾丸激素的分泌在睾丸中停止，身体其他部位的雄激素活动还维持着‘男性化’，比如维持男性化发型、低沉的嗓音、性欲和性功能，以及瘦体重。”

In the first clinical trial results on the drug, that balancing act looks like it might deliver a safe oral drug while hypothetically stopping sperm production – although it has to be emphasised this is only preliminary data.

在该药物的首次临床试验结果中，当这种平衡行为能按照假设那般停止产生精子，似乎提供了一种安全的口服药物——尽管必须强调的是，这只是初步数据。