自从证明了棉酚对人精子的体外杀精子效力后,将棉酚作为一种阴道避孕药应用的可能性近来已在非人灵长类和妇女中进行了评价。已有报导,棉酚有抑制人精子呼吸链和氧化磷酸化作用。且能干扰精子的能量代谢。这些棉酚的效应可能同精子的制动现象有关。但棉酚的杀精子机制至今仍不清楚。已经证明,主要由棉子类(GossypiumSpecies,Malvaceae)中分离出来的非旋光性(±)棉酚具有杀精子效力和抗生育作用。而由 Thepesia Populnea(Malva-ceae)植物中分离出来的旋光性(+)棉酚, The possibility of applying gossypol as a vaginal contraceptive has been recently evaluated in non-human primates and women, since the in vitro spermicidal efficacy of gossypol on human sperm has been demonstrated. Gossypol has been reported to inhibit human sperm respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation. And can interfere with sperm energy metabolism. The effect of these gossypol may be related to the phenomenon of sperm braking. However, the mechanism of spermatogenesis of gossypol is still unclear. It has been demonstrated that non-optically active (±) gossypol, which is mainly isolated from Gossypium Species (Malvaceae), has spermicidal and anti-fertility effects. While optically active (+) gossypol isolated from the plants of Thepesia Populnea (Malva-ceae)