Abstract
The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of new phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor vardenafil on endothelial function of cavernous and brachial arteries in healthy men and in patients with different forms of erectile dysfunction (ED). This prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed on 135 men with ED and 30 healthy controls. Complex evaluation was performed in all patients with ED. All participants also underwent our modification of ultrasound (US) assessment of postocclusive changes in the diameter of cavernosal arteries and endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery before and 1âh after administration of 20âmg of vardenafil or placebo. After study drug administration, PICAD and FMD significantly increased in patients receiving vardenafil (P<0.001) but not in patients receiving placebo. Increase in PICAD values was significantly greater in patients with arteriogenic ED compared with patients with organic nonarterial ED (P=0.007), psychogenic ED (P<0.001) and controls (P=0.001). The most prominent increase in brachial artery FMD values were found in patients with arteriogenic ED, although statistically significant differences were present only between patients with arteriogenic ED and control group (P=0.035). We have found a moderate negative correlation between initial PICAD and its increase after vardenafil and between pretreatment flow-mediated vasodilation of brachial arteries and its increase after vardenafil administration (r=â0.57 and â0.55, respectively). These findings suggest that the use of vardenafil restores impaired endothelial function of cavernous and brachial arteries.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 8 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $32.38 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
NIH Consensus Development Conference Statement. NIH consensus development panel on impotence. Int J Impot Res 1993; 4: 181â284.
Parazzini F, Menchini FF, Bortolotti A, Calabro A, Chatenoud L, Colli E et al. Frequency and determinants of erectile dysfunction in Italy. Eur Urol 2000; 37: 43â49.
Chew KK, Earle CM, Stuckey BG, Jamrozik K, Keogh EJ . Erectile dysfunction in general medicine practice: prevalence and clinical correlates. Int J Impot Res 2000; 12: 41â45.
Roumeguere T, Wespes E, Carpentier Y, Hoffmann P, Schulman CC . Erectile dysfunction is associated with a high prevalence of hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease risk. Eur Urol 2003; 44: 355â359.
Martin-Morales A, Sanches-Cruz J, Saenz de Tejada I, Rodriguez-Vela L, Jimenez-Cruz JF, Burgos-Rodriguez R . Prevalence and independent risk factors for erectile dysfunction in Spain: results of the epidemiologia de la disfuncion erectil masculina study. J Urol 2001; 166: 569â574.
Bivalacqua TJ, Usta MF, Champion HC, Kadowitz PJ, Hellstrom WJ . Endothelial dysfunction in erectile dysfunction: role of the endothelium in erectile physiology and disease. J Androl 2003; 24 (Suppl 6): S17âS37.
Andersson KE, Wagner G . Physiology of penile erection. Physiol Rev 1995; 75: 191â236.
Francis SH, Corbin JD . Molecular mechanisms and pharmacokinetics of phosphodiesterase-5 antagonists. Curr Urol Rep 2003; 4: 457â465.
Virag R . Flow-dependent dilatation of the cavernous artery. A potential test of penile NO content. J Mal Vascul 2002; 27: 214â217.
Virag R, Floresco J, Richard C . Impairment of shear-stress-mediated vasodilation of cavernous arteries in erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res 2004; 16: 39â42.
Mazo E, Gamidov S, Andranovich S, Iremashvili V . Testing endothelial function of brachial and cavernous arteries in patients with erectile dysfunction. J Sex Med 2006 (in press; DOI:10.111/j.1743-6109.2005.00098.x).
Verma S, Buchanan MR, Anderson TJ . Endothelial function testing as a biomarker of vascular disease. Circulation 2003; 108: 2054â2059.
Katz SD, Balidemaj K, Homma S, Wu H, Wang J, Maybaum S . Acute type 5 phosphodiesterase inhibition with sildenafil enhances flow-mediated vasodilation in patients with chronic heart failure. J Am Coll Cardiol 2000; 36: 845â851.
Desouza C, Parulkar A, Lumpkin D, Akers D, Fonseca VA . Acute and prolonged effects of sildenafil on brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2002; 25: 1336â1339.
Vlachopoulos C, Tsekoura D, Alexopoulos N, Panagiotakos D, Aznaouridis K, Stefanadis C . Type 5 phosphodiesterase inhibition by sildenafil abrogates acute smoking-induced endothelial dysfunction. Am J Hypertens 2004; 17: 1040â1044.
Guazzi M, Tumminello G, Di Marco F, Guazzi MD . Influences of sildenafil on lung function and hemodynamics in patients with chronic heart failure. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2004; 76: 371â378.
Rosano GMC, Aversa A, Vitale C, Fabbri A, Fini M, Spera G . Chronic treatment with tadalafil improves endothelial function in men with increased cardiovascular risk. Eur Urol 2005; 47: 214â220.
Dishy V, Sofowora G, Harris PA, Kandcer M, Zhan F, Wood AJ et al. The effect of sildenafil on nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation in healthy men. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2001; 70: 270â279.
Dishy V, Harris PA, Pierce R, Prasad HC, Sofowora G, Bonar HL et al. Sildenafil does not improve nitric oxide-mediated endothelium-dependent vascular responses in smokers. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2004; 57: 209â212.
Kaiser DR, Billups K, Mason C, Wetterling R, Lundberg JL, Bank AJ . Impaired brachial artery endothelium-dependent and -independent vasodilation in men with erectile dysfunction and no other clinical cardiovascular disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 43: 179â184.
Halcox JPJ, Nour KRA, Zalos G, Mincemoyer R, Waclawiw MA, Rivera CE et al. The effect of sildenafil on human vascular function, platelet activation, and myocardial ischemia. J Am Coll Cardiol 2002; 40: 1232â1240.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mazo, E., Gamidov, S. & Iremashvili, V. The effect of vardenafil on endothelial function of brachial and cavernous arteries. Int J Impot Res 18, 464â469 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901454
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3901454
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Sexual Dysfunction in Heart Failure Patients
Current Heart Failure Reports (2014)
-
The endothelial cell in health and disease: its function, dysfunction, measurement and therapy
International Journal of Impotence Research (2010)
-
Erectile dysfunction and heart failure: the role of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors
International Journal of Impotence Research (2009)
-
Assessment of endothelial function in the patient with erectile dysfunction: an opportunity for the urologist
International Journal of Impotence Research (2008)