somesign
09-02-2007, 10:28 AM
Admittedly it's a bit of a leap...but who knows...? :rofl:
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
-- Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex -- they may also boost levels of a
hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported Thursday.
Viagra, known generically as
sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats, the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a
report published in the Journal of Physiology. This hormone is involved in nursing and childbirth but also in orgasm
and feelings of sexual pleasure.
And it seems Viagra and related drugs act on the part of the brain that controls
release of oxytocin, said Wisconsin physiology professor Meyer Jackson.
"This is one piece in a puzzle in which
many pieces are still not available," Jackson said in a statement. "But it raises the possibility that erectile
dysfunction drugs could be doing more than just affecting erectile dysfunction."
Viagra, made by Pfizer Inc., is
an inhibitor of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase type 5. Related drugs such as Eli Lilly and Co.'s Cialis, known
generically as tadalafil, and Levitra or vardenafil, sold by GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer AG and Schering-Plough, are also
PDE-5 inhibitors.
They block this enzyme, which in turn breaks down other compounds. This increases blood flow in
the muscles but it also affects a brain structure known as the posterior pituitary.
This, in turn, boosts
oxytocin, at least in the rats. It probably does the same thing in people, Jackson said.
"It does the same thing
it does in smooth muscle -- instead of (levels) coming down in a minute or two, they stay up a little longer,"
Jackson said in a telephone interview.
Oxytocin was known for years to be involved in labor and it is the hormone
that causes the "let-down" of milk in breastfeeding babies. Only in recent decades has it been found to have a
function in men -- in sexual arousal and function.
This could suggest other uses for Viagra and related drugs,
Jackson said -- perhaps promoting social bonding. "What I hope is that people read our paper who can test these
ideas in animals and humans," Jackson said. "I hope that this doesn't cause some wild orgy of inappropriate
recreational use."
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
-- Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex -- they may also boost levels of a
hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported Thursday.
Viagra, known generically as
sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats, the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a
report published in the Journal of Physiology. This hormone is involved in nursing and childbirth but also in orgasm
and feelings of sexual pleasure.
And it seems Viagra and related drugs act on the part of the brain that controls
release of oxytocin, said Wisconsin physiology professor Meyer Jackson.
"This is one piece in a puzzle in which
many pieces are still not available," Jackson said in a statement. "But it raises the possibility that erectile
dysfunction drugs could be doing more than just affecting erectile dysfunction."
Viagra, made by Pfizer Inc., is
an inhibitor of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase type 5. Related drugs such as Eli Lilly and Co.'s Cialis, known
generically as tadalafil, and Levitra or vardenafil, sold by GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer AG and Schering-Plough, are also
PDE-5 inhibitors.
They block this enzyme, which in turn breaks down other compounds. This increases blood flow in
the muscles but it also affects a brain structure known as the posterior pituitary.
This, in turn, boosts
oxytocin, at least in the rats. It probably does the same thing in people, Jackson said.
"It does the same thing
it does in smooth muscle -- instead of (levels) coming down in a minute or two, they stay up a little longer,"
Jackson said in a telephone interview.
Oxytocin was known for years to be involved in labor and it is the hormone
that causes the "let-down" of milk in breastfeeding babies. Only in recent decades has it been found to have a
function in men -- in sexual arousal and function.
This could suggest other uses for Viagra and related drugs,
Jackson said -- perhaps promoting social bonding. "What I hope is that people read our paper who can test these
ideas in animals and humans," Jackson said. "I hope that this doesn't cause some wild orgy of inappropriate
recreational use."