Role of Oxidative Stress in Peyronie's Disease: Biochemical Evidence and Experiences of Treatment with Antioxidants

Abstract

Background: Peyronie's disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting adult males, involving the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa of the penis. PD is frequently associated with penile pain, erectile dysfunction, and a secondary anxious-depressive state. The etiology of PD has not yet been completely elucidated, but local injury is generally recognized to be a triggering factor. It has also been widely proven that oxidative stress is an essential, decisive component in all inflammatory processes, whether acute or chronic. Current conservative medical treatment comprises oral substances, penile injections, and physical therapy.

Aim: This article intends to show how antioxidant therapy is able to interfere with the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease.

Method: This article consists of a synthetic narrative review of the current scientific literature on antioxidant therapy for this disease.

Results: The good results of the antioxidant treatment described above also prove that the doses used were adequate and the concentrations of the substances employed did not exceed the threshold at which they might have interacted negatively with the mechanisms of the redox regulation of tissue.

Conclusions: We believe new, randomized, controlled studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of treatment with antioxidants. However, we consider the experiences of antioxidant treatment which can already be found in the literature useful for the clinical practice of urologists in the treatment of this chronic inflammatory disease.

Keywords: Peyronie’s disease; antioxidants; oxidative stress.

Figure 1

Explanatory algorithm of the pathophysiology of Peyronie’s disease.

Figure 2

Explanatory flow chart of the narrative revision methodology.