Alternatives to HRT

Women are having second thoughts about hormone replacement
therapy — but what are the options? How can women protect heart, brain,
breasts, and bones from the ravages of age sans estrogen? And what about hot
flashes, night sweats, lost libido, vaginal dryness?

Well, there definitely are options — some more effective than
others. Here’s a capsule version of the latest findings:

Heart Disease and Stroke

A powerful class of drugs called statins reduce the
amount of cholesterol in the blood — especially LDL, the so-called
“bad” cholesterol. Statins have also been found to reduce stroke, may
reduce osteoporosis, could be an adjunct treatment for cancer.

Risk of heart-related deaths in 20,000 men and women (ages
40-80) was reduced by 18% among those who received statins. People who took
statins were also 25% less likely to suffer a nonfatal heart attack or stroke
or require bypass surgery. That study appeared in the July 6 issue of
TheLancet.

Statin use was linked with 22% reduction of all strokes and 25%
reduction in nonfatal strokes in another study published in the Jan. 23 issue
of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Studies of soy protein show varying results in reducing
blood pressure and LDL cholesterol in postmenopausal women. Though at least one
small study found reductions when patients ate natural soy, other studies did
not show improvements from soy extracts. Researchers conclude that different
proteins found in natural soy appear to interact with phytoestrogens — plant
estrogens — to increase their cholesterol-lowering activity. Those studies
were discussed at last year’s Endocrinology Society meeting.

Limiting salt in the diet — and walking 30 minutes a
day — can also lower blood pressure in postmenopausal women by a surprising
amount, according to a study published in the August 2001 Journal of the
American College of Cardiology. In the study, those who ate only a teaspoon
of salt a day plus walked lowered their blood pressure by 16 points. To lower
sodium in diet, cook with less salt, use herbs and lemon juice to flavor foods,
check packed food labels for sodium, and limit salty snack foods.

Osteoporosis

Fosamax and similar bisphosphonate medications are
designed to prevent or treat osteoporosis; they slow bone thinning and increase
thickness of the bones of the spine and hip. This reduces the risk of broken
bones. The drugs are so successful that researchers are now looking at
administering the drug through annual intravenous infusions — so women don’t
have to take pills every day.

Evista, which belongs in a separate class of drugs, also
is prescribed to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Evista has another plus — it
has a favorable effect on cholesterol but does not increase the risk of breast
or uterine cancer.

Calcium and vitamin D
supplements — to the tune
of 1,500 mg a day — are recommended for older women and men. Dietary sources
of calcium include fat-free milk, yogurt, and cheese.

Also, eating more protein could help the body to more
effectively absorb calcium/vitamin D supplements, according to one recent study
at Tufts University in Boston. Elderly people who took 500 mg supplements in
addition to dietary calcium — and ate about 80 grams of protein a day — had
better bone mass than those in the control group.

And remember, 30 minutes of weight-bearing and
strength-trainingexercise — even for women in their 70s, 80s, 90s,
and older — can build bone.

However, the nutritional supplement ipriflavone — a synthetic
isoflavone derivative — does not have an effect on bone density, according to
a study in the March 21, 2001, issue of TheJournal of the American
Medical Association. Isoflavones are found in soy products.

Original article Alternatives to HRT
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Smokers prescribed Viagra to quit

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Smokers trying to quit the habit were mistakenly prescribed anti-impotence drug Viagra by doctors.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the error was due to a computer glitch at two city GP practices.

When GPs selected anti-smoking pill Zyban, computers selected sildenafil, the generic name for Viagra.

A health board spokeswoman said: “At no time was patient care affected by this as all prescriptions are subject to stringent double checking.”

The e-Formulary computer system used by GPs automatically selects a list of the most popular drugs when doctors fill out prescriptions.

Some patients went to the pharmacy with a prescription for the anti-impotence drug instead of tablets to help them stop smoking.

The health board was made aware of the problem on Tuesday and alerted all its GPs to the problem.

It is not thought anyone left a chemist with the wrong medication.

A health board spokeswoman said: “A computer glitch was discovered by two Glasgow GP practices that use the Glasgow e-Formulary, following a recent update of the online GPass system used throughout Scotland.

“As a precaution an advisory e-mail and memo was issued to all practices which use GPass and have installed the e-Formulary to alert staff.”

Reported assassination of Russian spammer deemed a hoax

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The reported assassination of an alleged Russian spammer is a hoax, according to security researchers.

On Thursday, a blog post on the Web site Loonov.com claimed a spammer named Alexey Tolstokozhev was found murdered in a villa outside Moscow. “He has been shot several times with one bullet stuck in his head. According to authorities, this last head shot is a clear mark of Russian hit men,” the post said.

The reported assassination of Tolstokozhev echoed the 2005 murder of an actual Russian spammer, Vardan Kushnir. Kushnir was found beaten to death in a Moscow apartment, prompting speculation his murder was related to his activities as a spammer. However, a police investigation later said Kushnir was killed by robbers and his death was not connected with his spam activities.

The Tolstokozhev story caught the attention of the security community as well as blogs, even making it on to Slashdot, one of the most popular sites for technology-related news. But security researchers soon debunked the report.

The story began to unravel when researchers failed to locate Tolstokozhev in records of known spammers, even though Loonov.com claimed he was responsible for “up to 30 percent of all Viagra and penis enlargement-related spam” and made more than $2 millionin 2007 from these unsolicited e-mails. More questions were raised when researchers discovered that the Loonov.com domain name was registered on the same day the assassination post appeared.

“We got the feeling pretty quickly that it was a hoax,” said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee&39;s idea of a joke or they were using a real person&39;s SunbeltBlog and Taint.org, a blog written by Justin Mason, a software developer in Ireland.

The motivation behind the Tolstokozhev hoax is not clear. The Loonov.com domain was registered anonymously and the identity of the person behind the hoax is not known.

“It&39;s name, because this guy&39;s computer, but didn&39;t found any malicious code embedded in the site,” he said.

Perhaps ironically, all of the attention that&39;s getting an awful lot of traffic being driven to the site because of all the attention he&39;ll get a lot of Google juice out of this,” Marcus said, referring to the way Google&39;ve already got good Google activity built up, but that's just a guess.” (more…)

Health Highlights: Oct. 20, 2007

Source Health Highlights: Oct. 20, 2007 article

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Drought Forces Georgia Governor to Declare
Part of His State a National Disaster

Georgia governor Sonny Perdue Saturday declared the northern part of
his state a natural disaster area, and asked for a similar declaration
from President Bush. (more…)

Protein Mimetics Could Lead To More Successful Coronary Bypasses

Read more about new erectile dysfunction medication.

Science Daily — TEMPE, ARIZONA, May 12, 2003 — Severe spasm of blood vessels contributes to the failure of coronary bypass surgeries and to strokes following the rupture of an aneurysm in the brain. A complex signaling pathway controls relaxation in smooth muscle cells, but researchers at Arizona State University have discovered how to bypass it.

The research team has created a mimetic of the last protein in the pathway, HSP20, which causes relaxation in the same way as the natural protein. This research, published May 8 in the online version of The FASEB Journal, is a major step in the development of a drug that promotes blood vessel relaxation.

The signaling pathway that causes relaxation in smooth muscle cells involves many different proteins, but the last step is the addition of a phosphate group, or phosphorylation, of the protein HSP20, which actually effects relaxation.

Other groups have developed molecules, such as the active ingredient in Viagra, that affect earlier steps in this pathway. But if a problem occurs in later steps, these compounds are ineffective.

“You’ve got all those signaling pathways, but, boom, you can bypass them by putting in a mimetic of the protein that’s the effector molecule,” said primary investigator Colleen Brophy, research professor of bioengineering at ASU, director of the Center for Protein and Peptide Pharmaceuticals in the Arizona Biodesign Institute, and chief of vascular surgery at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The HSP20 mimetic developed at ASU consists of a 13 amino acid stretch of the protein attached to a protein transduction domain, a peptide that allows the mimetic to enter cells. The HSP20 portion of the mimetic includes a phosphate group attached to the same amino acid as in the active version of natural HSP20.

Brophy and colleagues measured the contraction of thin rings of smooth muscle from the coronary arteries of pigs with a force transducer. They pre-contracted the muscles by adding the hormone serotonin, then added either their HSP20 mimetic, a scrambled version of the HSP20 mimetic, or papaverine, a compound known to relax muscles by acting earlier in the signal pathway.

The HSP20 mimetic caused the rings of muscle to relax in a dose-dependent fashion, as did papaverine. The scrambled mimetic did not cause any change.

Furthermore, in collaboration with Intrinsic Bioprobes, Inc. of Tempe, Ariz., the researchers used a mass spectrometer to look at the natural HSP20 proteins in the rings. They found both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated HSP20 in papaverine-treated muscle, but only non-phosphorylated HSP20 in mimetic-treated muscle. Thus, the mimetic induces relaxation by its own action.

Brophy and colleagues also attached a fluorescent protein to their mimetic so that they could see the location of the mimetic in the rings of muscle and individual muscle cells. They found that it was evenly distributed, with a transduction efficiency of about 90 percent.

This research is part of an overarching goal to create protein-based pharmaceuticals to treat a variety of diseases. The next step is to take a HSP20 mimetic into stage one clinical trials so that its efficacy and safety in humans can be tested.

“I’m interested in approaching science from a bedside to bench and back to bedside approach,” said Brophy, who is also a vascular surgeon. “We hope to be very applied in terms of looking at clinically relevant problems for which there’s an unmet need, then developing experimental approaches to solving these problems, and then, based on experimental discoveries, engineer molecules that can be used to treat human disease.”

This research will be published in the print version of The FASEB Journal in July.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Arizona State University. (more…)

News - Q&A: Peacekeeping in Darfur

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African Union (AU) peacekeepers are in Darfur until June 2007, after Sudan rejected plans for it to hand over to a larger, stronger UN mission.

Sudan’s government and the pro-government Arab militias are accused of war crimes against the region’s black African population, although the UN has stopped short of calling it genocide.

But the current force has failed to halt attacks on civilians which has led to some 2m people living in camps. Without the peacekeepers they would be even more vulnerable.

What is the problem with the current force?

This the African Union’s first serious foray into peacekeeping and it has shown.

The 7,000 peacekeepers are over-stretched and have found themselves shot at and kidnapped by rebel groups. Both sides in the conflict have stopped them accessing a number of key areas - making it extremely difficult for them to investigate ceasefire violations.

When they do take place, investigations are painfully slow with both government and rebel groups required to approve them before they are sent to headquarters.

This is the AU’s first peacekeeping mission

Their mandate is to protect civilians in immediate danger where possible. This is open to numerous different interpretations.

In practice there have only been a few occasions where the AU has proactively gone out to defend civilians in threat of attack.

It is not so much what the mandate is - but how well equipped they are to enforce it.

The fact that the force functions at all is largely down to the Western contractors that are used.

The US firm PAE provides all accommodation, food and maintenance while a Canadian firm sent the helicopter which operates the supply routes.

In the areas of administration which the AU takes responsibility for, such as paying staff, it struggles.

Many of the mission’s staff have not been paid for three months. Not surprisingly morale is desperately low.

What is the West’s position?

Western donors have not been keen to hand cash to the force as money donated through AU headquarters in Addis Ababa has not always translated into improvements in Darfur.

The longstanding position has been that it is time for a transition from an African Union to a United Nations force.

The Janjaweed are accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’

Throughout 2006 envoys and diplomats have gone to Khartoum and tried to persuade President Omar al-Bashir to accept a UN mission. He has point blank refused.

Thanks to their strong business ties with China, the Khartoum government has insulated itself from Western pressure.

Now having realised their impotence, Western thoughts have turned to a compromise.

The approach has changed from the so-called “megaphone diplomacy” to a more conciliatory approach.

US envoy Andrew Natsios made an extremely low key visit to Sudan in October.

The message he took back to Washington was that a third way had to be found - a robust force which could be deployed without President Bashir losing face.

What is Khartoum’s position on strengthening the force?

Khartoum says it is happy for the AU to strengthen its mandate, increase its number of troops and receive logistical support from the United Nations, as long as it is done in consultation with the government.

About 100 UN experts are in the process of being deployed to the AU mission to help with equipment and logistics.

At present Khartoum says it is unwilling to consider troops from outside the continent which could pose a problem as the African Union is struggling to find more troops.

The UN is now offering to send a further $21m to the force, with more going in logistical support.

What is the way ahead?

Beefing up the African Union force with extra resources and equipment is the first step in a three-phased proposal by the UN to ease the crisis.

The second stage would see the UN deploy several hundred soldiers and police officers to help the AU troops.

The third step is to push for a hybrid of AU and UN peacekeepers.

African troops would get UN logistical support and there would be substantial UN involvement in the command and control of the peacekeepers.

What is being suggested is a special representative to lead the joint force appointed by the UN and the AU.

UN officials hope this will satisfy Sudan’s reservations.

But the AU has now backed Sudan’s position that the force should remain under African control.

Even if a deal is reached - many in the West are unconvinced that the attacks on civilians will end unless the UN takes over - and that still needs a change of heart from President Bashir.

Source: News - Q&A: Peacekeeping in Darfur
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News - Actress Zellweger in privacy plea

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Actress Renee Zellweger has said she hopes her split from husband Kenny Chesney after four months can be achieved “as privately as possible”.

The Oscar-winning star and the country singer are seeking an annulment and Zellweger listed “fraud” as the reason.

But she said it was “legal language and not a reflection of Kenny’s character”.

She added: “I would personally be very grateful for your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalised or untrue conclusions.”

Chesney also released a statement on Friday describing it as “an incredibly sad time”.

“I just hope everyone can respect the privacy that I know Renee has already asked for,” he added.

US TV show Entertainment Tonight reported a further joint statement saying the split was due to “the miscommunication of the objective of their marriage at the start”.

“Renee and Kenny value and respect each other and are saddened that their different objectives prevent the success of this marriage,” it said, according to Entertainment Tonight.

“They are disappointed that the legal term ‘annulment-fraud’ has been publicly misunderstood and exaggerated.”

The Bridget Jones star, 36, married Chesney, 37, on a Caribbean beach in May, four months after meeting at a benefit for tsunami victims.

Chesney, one of the biggest country music stars in the US, was named entertainer of the year at the US Academy of Country Music awards in May.

Zellweger won a best supporting actress Oscar for Cold Mountain in 2004, and was also nominated for her roles in Chicago and Bridget Jones’s Diary. It was the first marriage for both.

Marriage invalid

In US law, an annulment is a decree that a marriage was invalid from its outset.

Anyone seeking an annulment on the grounds of “fraud” must prove that their partner misrepresented some matter that was vital to the marriage.

This may include the concealment of a fact such as an existing spouse, permanent impotence or a criminal history.

If either party was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the marriage took place, it may also be grounds for its annulment.

In her court submission, Zellweger also demanded that the court rule out the possibility of spousal financial support for Chesney.

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Eat, Exercise, Relax, and Sleep Your Way to Better Sex

Read more on Eat, Exercise, Relax, and Sleep Your Way to Better Sex

Thought about leading a healthier lifestyle but haven’t gotten
around to doing it? Here’s a possible incentive: Experts say people who are
mentally and physically fit are more likely to have good sex lives.

“If you feel good about yourself, you are in a better
position to feel good about relationships, including your sex life,” says
Karen Zager, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in New York City.

“When one is not feeling well, and is exhausted, it can
certainly have a negative impact on the quality of one’s sex life,” says
Saralyn Mark, MD, a senior medical adviser at the Office on Women’s Health.

This may all seem intuitive, yet many people find the road to a
fitter mind and body to be bumpy, especially if it involves losing weight,
starting an exercise program, reducing stress, or getting enough sleep.

One big reward, though, is to look and feel better — arguably
a plus for good romantic and sensual activities.

Eat Right

While there is no proven connection between a balanced diet and
bedroom performance, a poor diet can cause health problems that can possibly
interfere with sex.

Studies show animals that get too few calories tend to have
weakened immune systems, says John Allred, PhD, professor emeritus of nutrition
at Ohio State University. He says illness can be a big hurdle for pleasurable
intercourse.

“If you have heart disease, then you might be taking
medication that would inhibit sexual activity, or you might be afraid to have a
heart attack,” says Allred. “If you have the flu, a high fever, or just
don’t feel good … any of these things would be a turn-off.”

Mark Kantor, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and food
science at the University of Maryland, agrees, saying, “You will feel sexy
if you look and feel good.”

A way to do that is to eat an overall balanced diet and to
exercise each day. The two go hand-in-hand, says Kantor, as demonstrated by
today’s obesity problem, in which people eat too much food and aren’t active
enough.

Move That Body

Being physically active can be a natural Viagra boost,
according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), which recommends 20 to 30
minutes of moderate exertion a day.

“Men and women who exercise regularly are going to have
increased levels of desire,” says Cedric Bryant, PhD, ACE’s chief exercise
physiologist. “They’re going to have enhanced confidence, enhanced ability
to achieve orgasm, and greater sexual satisfaction.”

If that isn’t motivation enough to work out, consider this:
Researchers have found that there is a correlation between waist size and a
man’s odds of having erectile dysfunction (ED). The larger the man’s waist
size, the greater his chance of having ED (because of a higher risk of
underlying cardiovascular disease).

Need more positive reinforcement? Studies show that regular,
moderate exercise can have a positive benefit on major sexual problems, such as
ED in men and low libido in both men and women.

It only makes sense, say experts, since ED is often caused by
poor blood flow to the penis, and exercise can improve the body’s ability to
pump and circulate blood throughout the body.

The same can be true for the ladies. In one University of Texas
at Austin study, physically active women who watched an X-rated film had a 169%
greater blood flow to the vagina compared with when they were inactive.

And there’s more good news. Mark says exercise can promote the
body’s release of hormones important for sexual arousal, increase aerobic
capacity and muscle strength, and boost self-body image — all definite
benefits for between-the-sheets play. (more…)

News - California’s porn industry HIV scare

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We had our invitation, street name and house number. All that remained was to agree a time.

“Come early,” our host advised, “before the orgy begins.”

And so I found myself at a large secluded house one chilly Wednesday morning, producer and cameraman in tow.

Expensive cars dotted the driveway. By the front door, two bored looking technicians were adjusting the lights.

To one side a long veranda afforded a panoramic view of the San Fernando Valley, capital of America’s adult film industry.

The grand piano was decked with family photos of a middle-aged man, his wife and child.

The man in the picture appeared from the kitchen.

It turned out he was an accountant who had taken time off from attending to his clients’ tax returns to watch as his palatial home was transformed into a porn set.

Where was the woman in the picture and the cherubic child, I wondered?

“Staying with their in-laws.”

Were they aware of what was going on?

The accountant smiled. “I told them we were filming an exercise video - well it’s a form of exercise isn’t it?”

‘Lucrative’

The director of the shoot, Paul Thomas, looked a little like Burt Reynolds’ character Jack Horner in the film “Boogie Nights” - a movie all about the California porn industry.

Mainstream Hollywood is still the biggest player in the movie industry

Now 53-years-old, Thomas is virtually unique among his porno peers as someone who not only had mainstream ambitions but the talent to realise them.

The young Paul Thomas starred as Peter in the film “Jesus Christ Superstar” as well as on Broadway, before tiring of the constant auditions and falling into a more lucrative, less demanding means of making a living.

Famed for making plot-driven sex films, he is now regarded as the Fellini of adult entertainment and is now under contract to Vivid Video.

It is the biggest company in the business, and one of the only producers in America which requires its male performers to wear condoms on the set.

As Paul Thomas’ wife sat knitting a scarf in the corner, I asked the two performers, 18-year-old Lexi-Marie and 27-year-old Trent Tesoro, what they made of the condom-only rule.

The performers

Trent, a former chef who intended to spend no more than three months in the porn industry, but three years later shows no sign of returning to the kitchen, said that “like most men” he preferred not to wear a condom.

He also works with production companies which do not have such strict rules as Vivid, and boasted that he had probably had unprotected sex “hundreds” of times on film.

Lexi, whose surgically-enhanced breasts lent an almost cartoon-like quality to her willowy frame, said she would have unprotected sex on screen if she “got to know someone really well”.

As the day wore on, Trent coyly confided that he harboured a secret desire to get to know Lexi really well.

Like a teenager with a crush he told me he had a date with her on Saturday night.

He seemed much more nervous about that than having sex with her in front of a room full of people.

HIV scare

Condoms became an issue in the San Fernando Valley eight months ago when one of the industry’s major stars, Darren James, tested positive for HIV.

Fewer than 20% of porn stars currently engage in safe sex

Four women he had worked with were subsequently diagnosed, prompting a scare which brought the entire industry to a standstill for two months.

It was the first such outbreak for many years, and the publicity it generated spurred state authorities into action.

Officials from the Californian Health and Safety at Work division imposed 30,000 dollar fines on the two production companies at the centre of the outbreak.

And there was even talk of enshrining condom use in law.

Yet for all the brouhaha, it is estimated that fewer than 20% of porn stars currently engage in safe sex.

The performers blame the producers, maintaining they would not get work if they insist on using condoms.

The producers blame the performers, and cannot believe they have not banded together to demand that condoms be used.

‘Sexual gymnastics’

Back on the set, as Trent and Lexi were rehearsing the rudimentary dialogue that would serve as a brief prelude to a vigorous bout of sexual gymnastics, the director was distracted.

The porn industry has capitalised on LA’s glamorous image

Paul Thomas had lost interest in the mechanical movements and blunt choreography of his shoot.

There was a problem, he was short of a body - would I like to help?

The crew explained what was required and I dutifully signed the release forms, pondering for about half an hour what my “stage name” should be.

I settled on “Dirk Diggler”, the name used by the gauche waiter turned porn star in “Boogie Nights”.

Then I sat back and did what everyone does on movie sets, legitimate or otherwise, and that is wait.

Had I known of my impending 15 minutes of fame when I met her a few days earlier, I could have got all the tips in the book from Sharon Mitchell.

The star of more than 1,000 sex films, she finally decided to call it quits when an obsessed fan attacked and raped her on her doorstep.

She returned to school to study for a doctorate in human sexuality and went on to found a health-care organisation which tests porn stars for sexually-transmitted diseases.

Protection

Most of the people who gravitate to this industry do so because they can’t make it in the real world Former porn actress Sharon Mitchell

It was her clinic which detected the recent outbreak of HIV.

“Anyone with a handful of Viagra and a Hi-8 camera can be a porn star nowadays,” she told me matter-of-factly.

“But most of the people who gravitate to this industry do so because they can’t make it in the real world. They can’t organise lunch let alone crime. Those are not the sort of people who learn a lesson.”

When I inquired of the companies at the centre of the HIV scare, whether they now insist that their performers wear condoms, I was told it was up to the individuals involved.

State legislators know that, by cracking down on condom use in the San Fernando Valley, they run the risk of forcing the industry underground and forfeiting millions of dollars in taxes.

Before you ask, my career as an extra is on hold.

They ran out of time to film the scene while we were there and I thought better of returning the next day.

For those like Lexi and Trent, who have made pornography their lives, HIV remains an “occupational hazard”.

One the love-sick Trent is desperately hoping will not sabotage their burgeoning relationship.

They have already had the sex.

All they need now is the love.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 1 January 2005 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

Original article ‘News - California’s porn industry HIV scare‘
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Newly Mapped Enzyme Could Yield New Treatments For Female Sexual Dysfunction

Science Daily — PHILADELPHIA — New research from the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions indicates that the enzyme arginase II, which can short-circuit a biochemical pathway leading to sexual arousal in men, is also present in the female genitalia and represents a promising target for new drugs to treat sexual dysfunction in women.

Scientists from Penn, Temple University and Boston University have mapped out arginase II’s three-dimensional structure, easing the job of creating drugs to disable it. Their results will appear in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Biochemistry, and were published this week on the journal’s Web site.

“Existing treatments have shown little success in treating female sexual dysfunction,” said lead author David W. Christianson, professor of chemistry at Penn. “Given the relative failure of remedies such as Viagra, the identification of a new target for the possible treatment of female sexual dysfunction represents an important advance.”

In 2001 Christianson and his colleagues reported that arginase II is present in the human penis. In studies with female rabbits, described in the current paper, the researchers have found the same enzyme in the genitalia of female mammals.

Christianson’s group also found that administration of a powerful arginase inhibitor enhanced smooth muscle relaxation and blood flow in the female rabbits’ genitalia, fostering sexual arousal.

“Ever since the enzyme nitric oxide synthase was identified in the female genitalia six years ago, we’ve been very interested in learning whether arginase might play a role in female sexual dysfunction,” Christianson said. “More importantly, we’ve wondered whether arginase inhibitors could enhance smooth muscle relaxation in the female genitalia, leading to sexual arousal. It now appears that this may be the case.”

Healthy sexual function in both genders relies on a biochemical cascade as carefully orchestrated as any courtship ritual. At one critical step in that pathway, nitric oxide synthase converts arginine, one of the 20 natural amino acids, into citrulline and nitric oxide. The latter product causes rapid relaxation of smooth muscle in male and female genitalia, allowing the thousands of tiny vessels there to swell with blood.

Arginase can derail this reaction by sequestering arginine and breaking it down into compounds unrelated to those physiologically responsible for arousal, depriving the genitalia of the nitric oxide needed for sexual function.

In both men and women, sexual dysfunction occurs when this enzyme-mediated pathway goes awry, impeding blood flow in and out of the genitalia. Sexual difficulty often manifests itself as a side effect of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and the use of medications such as antidepressants.

Christianson is joined in the research by Evis Cama and Hyunshun Shin at Penn; Diana M. Colleluori, Frances A. Emig and David E. Ash of Temple University; and Soo Woong Kim, Noel N. Kim and Abdulmaged M. Traish of Boston University. Their work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Pennsylvania. (more…)