Topical Erectile Dysfunction Therapy Showes Promise

An innovative drug-delivery system — nanoparticles encapsulating nitric oxide or prescription drugs — shows promise for topical treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new study by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

The new system, tested successfully on a small number of animals, could potentially prevent side effects associated with oral ED medications, if study results can be replicated in humans. That could mean safer and more effective ED therapy for millions of men with heart disease and other health problems affecting erectile function. The study is published today in the online edition of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Tens of millions of men worldwide have benefited from oral ED medications such as sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis). However, these medications — which belong to a class of drugs called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors — have limitations. They can cause systemic side effects that can be serious. These side effects include headache, facial flushing, nasal congestion, upset stomach, abnormal vision as well as isolated reports of hearing and vision loss. Men who’ve recently suffered a heart attack or stroke or have severe heart disease should use these drugs with caution or not at all. In addition, “an estimated 30 to 50 percent of men with ED do not respond to oral use of PDE5 inhibitors,” says senior author Kelvin P. Davies, Ph.D., associate professor of urology at Einstein.

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