News story
New Treatment for Priapism Developed
Posted: Thursday, 5 November, 2009 | Categories: Erectile Dysfunction, New Treatments, Priapism
Long-lasting erections, or priapism, is often a cause for laughter and mocking but in actually can be an extremely painful and debilitating condition. While the cause of erections that last for over 4 hours is unknown, U.S researchers believe that they may have discovered a treatment.
Biochemists at the Medical School at the University of Texas have reported that in a pre-clinical study, the drug polyethylene glycol-linked adenosine deaminase helped to relieve symptoms of priapism and prevented patients from developing major complications. PEG-ADA has already been approved for human use by the FDA and is used to treat immune deficiencies.
The condition affects 40% of men with sickle cell anemia and is also associated with diabetes. Occasionally it can be a side-effect of erectile dysfunction treatments.
The team first noticed the properties of the drug when during experiments with mice they discovered that mice with high levels of a signalling molecule called adenosine were liable to spontenous erections lasting many hours.
In the latest study, they proved that in mice one of the major complications of priapism, penile fibrosis or scarring of the penis (which can lead to erectile dysfunction) was prevented through drug treatment. They also relieved the priapism itself.
In a statement, the lead scientist on the research Dr. Yang Xia said, “"We built on our earlier work, which showed that we can prevent and treat priapism in mouse models." She continued, “When we treated the mice, we do not see any side effects or any abnormality. Actually, the mice look better. We can quickly correct the priapism and prevent and treat penile fibrosis."
The team’s findings were published in the latest issue of The Faseb Journal and they are hoping to begin a clinical trial soon.