zaprinast and Erectile-Dysfunction

An experimental study was done to examine a potential role of phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors in the treatment of diabetic erectile dysfunction. Relaxant effect of specific PDE inhibitors were measured in strips of corpus cavernosum smooth muscle taken from control and diabetic groups. Diabetes mellitus was induced in New Zealand white rabbits using alloxan. Penises excised from diabetic rabbits 8 weeks after the induction of diabetes mellitus. In the organ bath strips from control and diabetic rabbit corpus cavernosum were precontracted and increasing doses of several PDE inhibitors were added. In the precontracted rabbit cavernous tissue, sulmazole and zaprinast specific PDE V inhibitors were equally potent and efficacious in vitro but amrinone, a specific PDE III inhibitor, exhibits low relaxant effects. All PDE inhibitors tested showed a similar relaxation effect on corpus cavernosum smooth muscle from control and 8-week diabetic rabbits. The present study provides the possibility of using selective PDE III and V inhibitors in the treatment of diabetic impotence.

Topics: Amrinone; Animals; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental; Erectile Dysfunction; Imidazoles; Male; Muscle Contraction; Muscle Relaxation; Muscle, Smooth; Penis; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Purinones; Rabbits

Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors with improved PDE isozyme selectivity relative to sildenafil may result in agents for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction (MED) with a lower incidence of PDE-associated adverse effects. This paper describes the discovery of 14, a PDE5 inhibitor with improved potency and selectivity in vitro compared to sildenafil. This compound shows activity in a functional assay of erectile function comparable to that of sildenafil.

Topics: 3',5'-Cyclic-GMP Phosphodiesterases; Animals; Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases, Type 5; Erectile Dysfunction; Imidazoles; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Penis; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; Piperazines; Purines; Purinones; Quinazolines; Rabbits; Sildenafil Citrate; Structure-Activity Relationship; Sulfones

Nitric oxide (NO), a mediator involved in penile erection, is synthesized by the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) family of enzymes. It has been shown that NOS activity decreases with age. To determine whether adenoviral-mediated overexpression of endothelial NOS (eNOS) could enhance erectile responses, we administered a recombinant adenovirus containing the eNOS gene (AdCMVeNOS) into the corpora cavernosum of the aged rat. Adenoviral expression of the beta-galactosidase reporter gene was observed in cavernosal tissue 1 day after intracavernosal administration of AdCMVbetagal; 1 day after administration of AdCMVeNOS, transgene expression was confirmed by immunoblot staining of eNOS protein, and cGMP levels were increased. The increase in cavernosal pressure in response to cavernosal nerve stimulation was enhanced in animals transfected with eNOS, and erectile responses to acetylcholine and zaprinast were enhanced at a time when the erectile response to the NO donor sodium 1-(N,N-diethylamino)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate was not altered. These results suggest that in vivo gene transfer of eNOS, alone or in combination with a type V phosphodiesterase inhibitor, may constitute a new therapeutic intervention for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Topics: Acetylcholine; Adenoviridae; Aging; Animals; Cyclic GMP; Electric Stimulation; Erectile Dysfunction; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genetic Therapy; Male; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Penis; Purinones; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Nitric oxide has been identified as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor in blood vessels. We tried to determine whether it is involved in the relaxation of the corpus cavernosum that allows penile erection. The relaxation of this smooth muscle is known to occur in response to stimulation by nonadrenergic, noncholinergic neurons.. We studied strips of corpus cavernosum tissue obtained from 21 men in whom penile prostheses were inserted because of impotence. The mounted smooth-muscle specimens were pretreated with guanethidine and atropine and submaximally contracted with phenylephrine. We then studied the smooth-muscle relaxant responses to stimulation by an electrical field and to nitric oxide.. Electrical-field stimulation caused a marked, transient, frequency-dependent relaxation of the corpus cavernosum that was inhibited in the presence of N-nitro-L-arginine and N-amino-L-arginine, which selectively inhibit the biosynthesis of nitric oxide from L-arginine. The addition of excess L-arginine, but not D-arginine, largely reversed these inhibitory effects. The specific liberation of nitric oxide (by S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine) caused rapid, complete, and concentration-dependent relaxation of the corpus cavernosum. The relaxation caused by either electrical stimulation or nitric oxide was enhanced by a selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (GMP) phosphodiesterase (M&B 22,948). Relaxation was inhibited by methylene blue, which inhibits cyclic GMP synthesis.. Our findings support the hypothesis that nitric oxide is involved in the nonadrenergic, noncholinergic neurotransmission that leads to the smooth-muscle relaxation in the corpus cavernosum that permits penile erection. Defects in this pathway may cause some forms of impotence.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Arginine; Cyclic GMP; Electric Stimulation; Erectile Dysfunction; Humans; Male; Methylene Blue; Middle Aged; Muscle Relaxation; Muscle, Smooth; Nitric Oxide; Nitroarginine; Organ Culture Techniques; Penile Erection; Penis; Purinones; Synaptic Transmission