Title:The Effect of PDE5 Inhibitors on the Male Reproductive Tract
Volume: 27
Issue: 23
Author(s): Nikolaos Sofikitis*, Aris Kaltsas, Fotios Dimitriadis, Jens Rassweiler, Nikolaos Grivas, Athanasios Zachariou, Apostolos Kaponis, Panagiota Tsounapi, Napoleon Paterakis, Andreas Karagiannis, Sotirios Skouros, Ioannis Giannakis, Ioannis Champilomatis, Minas Paschopoulos, Diamantis Daphnis, Ioannis Giakoumakis, Melinda R.Gabales, Jo Ben M. Chua, Pedro L. Lantin III, Charalampos Mamoulakis and Atsushi Takenaka
Affiliation:
- Department of Urology, Ioannina University School of Medicine, Ioannina,Greece
Keywords:
Spermatozoa, testis, epididymis, phosphodiesterase, prostate, seminal vesicles, PDE5 inhibitors.
Abstract: The therapeutic range of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5) inhibitors is getting
wider in the last years. This review study focuses on the potential employment of PDE5 inhibitors as an adjunct
tool for the therapeutic management of male infertility. The literature tends to suggest a beneficial effect of PDE5
inhibitors on Leydig and Sertoli cells secretory function. It also appears that PDE5 inhibitors play a role in the
regulation of the contractility of the testicular tunica albuginea and the epididymis. Moreover, scientific data
suggest that PDE5 inhibitors enhance the prostatic secretory function leading to an improvement in sperm motility.
Other studies additionally demonstrate the role of PDE5 inhibitors in the regulation of the sperm capacitation
process. Placebo-controlled, randomized, blind studies are necessary to unambiguously incorporate PDE5 inhibitors
as an adjunct tool for the pharmaceutical treatment of semen disorders and male infertility.
