Male sexual dysfunction drugs may some day help women also

Washington, April 17 (ANI): A new study suggests that the drugs used to treat sexual dysfunction in men may some say also address some forms of female sexual disorders.

Medical College of Georgia researchers Kyan J. Allahdadi, Rita C. Tostes, and R. Clinton Webb say that female sexual dysfunction may partly result from inadequate supply of blood to the female genitals, and that it may be addressed with erectile dysfunction drugs.

Originally developed as therapy for hypertension, such drugs work by dilating blood vessels sufficiently to produce erections in males.

The researchers point out that these drugs have not been fully explored in females.

Using an animal model, the researchers compared the effects of three drugs used for erectile dysfunction-the phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5I) like sildenafil; vardenafil; and tadalafil.

The drugs were used and analysed in female and male rat internal pudendal arteries, which supply blood to the penis in men and to the vagina and clitoris in women.

The researchers observed that all the PDE5I inhibitors relaxed both female and male rat internal pudendal arteries, indicating that these arteries from both female and male rats are sensitive to PDE5I.

However, female internal pudendal arteries were more sensitive to sildenafil at a lower concentration, which suggests it may be effective at a lower dose than vardenafil.

Male internal pudendal arteries reacted more effectively to vardenafil, and female internal pudendal arteries also reacted differently in comparison to the male arteries in that they demonstrated an oscillatory behaviour by both dilating and contracting, suggesting that PDE5I may have a different mechanism of action in females.

Dr. Allahdadi said: "PDE5I may be useful in the treatment of female sexual dysfunction caused by inadequate blood supply through the internal pudendal artery. The significant difference in how male and female pudendal arteries react to PDE5 inhibitors merits further study."

The researchers are presently exploring the different relaxation profile observed between female and male rat internal pudendal arteries as well as functional abnormalities in internal pudendal arteries from diabetic rats.

The findings of the study will be presented at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society, to be held from April 18 to 22 in New Orleans. (ANI)