Long-term treatment with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors impairs erectile response in rats
sexhealthmatters.org/v2/data … /mmr07.asp
Authors: Andrew Harbin, Serap Gur, Fikret Erdemir, Irwin Goldstein, Wayne Hellstrom
Treatment with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) can lead to sexual dysfunction.
To better understand how this occurs, the effect of long-term treatment with 5-ARIs on erectile function was assessed in two rat models: 1) measuring intracavernosal pressure following electrical stimulation of cavernosal nerves and 2) measuring contraction of corpus cavernosum muscle strips in a tissue bath.
As presented by Andrew Harbin, 30 days treatment with 5-ARIs (finasteride or dutasteride) reduced the responses in both models, when compared with an untreated control group. This study suggests that treatment with 5-ARIs significantly reduces erectile function via impairment of nerve induced erections.
While their mechanism of action of the prostate are very well described, 5-ARIs inhibition of testosterone metabolism may have a direct effect on erectile mechanisms as well. This report shows that in a biological as well as an in vivo prep measurable alterations in erectile function are seen.
Further work to define whether these same alterations can be determined to occur in man, over what length of time and their reversibility would be of great interest.
