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
. 2024 Dec 20;12(6):qfae085.
doi: 10.1093/sexmed/qfae085. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Comparison of melanocortin-4 reptor and α-melanoside stimulated hormone levels in healthy female volunteers and female patients with and without sexual functional disorders related to the use of selective serotonin reaptake inhibitors

Simge N Kurt Kaya  1 , Yasir Safak  2 , Seyda Ozdemir  3
Affiliations

Comparison of melanocortin-4 reptor and α-melanoside stimulated hormone levels in healthy female volunteers and female patients with and without sexual functional disorders related to the use of selective serotonin reaptake inhibitors

Simge N Kurt Kaya et al. Sex Med. .

Abstract

Background: Sexual dysfunction (SD) due to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) use is a common condition encountered by psychiatrists and its etiology has not been fully elucidated.

Aim: To determine the relationship between alpha Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (α-MSH) and Melanocortin-4 receptor (MCR4) levels and sexual function levels of patients with and without SSRI related SD and control group and to examine whether α-MSH and MCR4 play a role in the etiology of SSRI related SD.

Methods: A total of 92 patients and 49 healthy volunteers who applied to psychiatry outpatient clinic were included in the study. Sociodemographic form, sexual history form, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM 5, Psychotropic Related Sexual Dysfunction-Turkish version (PreSexDQ-T), Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventory were used in the evaluation interview with the referred patients. Patient groups were formed according to whether there was SSRI related SD according to the sexual history and PreSexDQ-T scale.

Outcomes: The α-MSH and MCR4 levels were significantly lower in patients with SD due to SSRI use.

Results: α-MSH and MCR4 levels were lower in the SSRI related SD (SSRI-SD (+)) group than in the not experiencing SD with SSRIs (SSRI-SD (-)) and control groups. The mean α-MSH and MCR4 value of the control group was found to be significantly higher than the SSRI-SD (+) patient group, the mean MCR4 value of the control group was found to be significantly higher than the mean MCR4 value of the SSRI-SD (-) patient group. The mean MCR4 and a-MSH values of the SSRI-SD(+) group using SSRI with fluoxetine were significantly lower than the SSRI-SD (-) group using SSRI with fluoxetine.

Clinical implications: There is a role for α-MSH and MCR4 in SSRI related SD.

Strengths and limitations: Its strength is that it is the first human study in this field. Limitations include small sample size and unknown baseline levels of α-MSH and MCR4.

Conclusion: The fact that α-MSH and MCR4 play a role in the etiology of SD due to SSRI use in woman and that there was a significant difference between SSRI-SD (+) and SSRI-SD (-) groups when α-MSH and MCR4 levels were compared in fluoxetine users supports the hypothesis that serotonin may mediate SD via α-MSH and MCR4 through 5-hydroxytryptamine-2C (5-HT2C) antagonism.

Keywords: antidepressants; melanocortin; sexual dsyfunction; Α-melanocyte stimulated hormone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Srivastava R, Thakar R, Sultan A. Female sexual dysfunction in obstetrics and gynecology. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2008;63(8):527–537. 10.1097/OGX.0b013e31817f13e3 - DOI - PubMed
    1. de Boer MK, Castelein S, Wiersma D, Schoevers RA, Knegtering H. The facts about sexual (Dys)function in schizophrenia: an overview of clinically relevant findings. Schizophr Bull. 2015;41(3):674–686. 10.1093/schbul/sbv001 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Martínez-Giner G, Giménez-De Llano E, Romero-Rubio D. Sexual dysfunction in people treated with long-acting injectable antipsychotics in monotherapy or polypharmacy: a naturalistic study. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2022;31(3):576–590. 10.1111/inm.12973 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Steffens DC, Krishnan KRR, Helms MJ. Are SSRIs better than TCAs? Comparison of SSRIs and TCAs: a meta-analysis. Depress Anxiety. 1997;6(1):10–18. 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6394(1997)6:1<10::AID-DA2>3.0.CO;2-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Balon R. Sexual functioning with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Am J Psychiatry. 1999;156(5):807–808. 10.1176/ajp.156.5.807 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources