Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Dec;29(12):1405-1418.
doi: 10.1111/iju.15046. Epub 2022 Oct 4.

PDE5 inhibitors and male reproduction: Is there a place for PDE5 inhibitors in infertility clinics or andrology laboratories?

Fotios Dimitriadis  1 , Aris Kaltsas  2 , Athanasios Zachariou  2 , Charalampos Mamoulakis  3 , Chara Tsiampali  2 , Ioannis Giannakis  2 , Minas Paschopoulos  4 , Athanasios Papatsoris  5 , Dimitrios Loutradis  6 , Panagiota Tsounapi  7 , Atsushi Takenaka  7 , Nikolaos Sofikitis  2   7
Affiliations
Review

PDE5 inhibitors and male reproduction: Is there a place for PDE5 inhibitors in infertility clinics or andrology laboratories?

Fotios Dimitriadis et al. Int J Urol. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

The objective of this review study is to evaluate the therapeutic role of PDE5 inhibitors (PDE5is) in the amelioration of oligoasthenospermia in infertile males. PDE5is have a beneficial influence on the secretory function of the Leydig and Sertoli cells, the biochemical environment within the seminiferous tubule, the contractility of the testicular tunica albuginea, and the prostatic secretory function. In several studies, the overall effect of sildenafil and vardenafil increased quantitative and qualitative sperm motility. Furthermore, some studies indicate that PDE5is influence positively the sperm capacity to undergo capacitation under biochemical conditions that are known to induce the sperm capacitation process. Additional research efforts are necessary in order to recommend unequivocally the usage of sildenafil, vardenafil, or avanafil for the alleviation of male infertility.

Keywords: PDE; PDE5 inhibitors; epididymis; prostate; testis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

REFERENCES

    1. Salonia ACB, J. Carvalho, G. Corona, T.H. Jones, A. Kadioǧlu, J.I. Martinez-Salamanca, S. Minhas, E.C. Serefoǧlu, P. Verze members of the EAU Sexual and Reproductive Health Guidelines Panel. EAU guidelines on sexual and reproductive health. Arnhem: EAU Guidelines Office; 2022.
    1. Bender AT, Beavo JA. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases: molecular regulation to clinical use. Pharmacol Rev. 2006;58:488-520.
    1. Zaccolo M, Pozzan T. Discrete microdomains with high concentration of cAMP in stimulated rat neonatal cardiac myocytes. Science. 2002;295:1711-5.
    1. Lue TF. Erectile dysfunction. N Engl J Med. 2000;342:1802-13.
    1. Ghofrani HA, Wiedemann R, Rose F, Olschewski H, Schermuly RT, Weissmann N, et al. Combination therapy with oral sildenafil and inhaled iloprost for severe pulmonary hypertension. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:515-22.

LinkOut - more resources