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Published-Ahead-of-Print April 17, 2008, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.107.004721
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 29, No. 5, September/October 2008
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.107.004721

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Effect of Caffeine on Erectile Function via Up-Regulating Cavernous Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate in Diabetic Rats

RONG YANG*, JIULING WANG*, YUN CHEN*, ZEYU SUN*, RUN WANG{dagger} AND YUTIAN DAI*

From the * Department of Urology, Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University, School of Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; and the {dagger} Department of Urology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

Correspondence to: Yutian Dai, Department of Urology, Gulou Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, China (e-mail: ytdai{at}hotmail.com), and Run Wang, Department of Urology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030 (e-mail: run.wang{at}uth.tmc.edu).


Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors, which inhibit the breakdown of intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), are used to treat diabetic ED. Caffeine, a nonselective PDE inhibitor used in our daily diet, is controversial regarding its effect on erectile function. To investigate the effect of caffeine on erectile function in diabetic rat models and explore the mechanism, male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with streptozotocin to induce diabetes mellitus. The rats with blood glucose levels above 300 mg/dL were selected for the study. The rats were divided into 4 groups: group A (normal control rats), group B (diabetic rats treated with normal saline), group C (diabetic rats treated with caffeine, 10 mg/kg per day), and group D (diabetic rats treated with caffeine, 20 mg/kg per day). After 8 weeks of treatment, intracavernous pressure (ICP) was measured to assess erectile function. The radioimmunoassay was used to evaluate the level of cGMP in the cavernosum. The ICP and the cavernous cGMP decreased significantly in the diabetic rats compared with normal controls. An 8-week administration of caffeine at the given dosages increased the ICP and cavernous cGMP in diabetic rats. Caffeine consumption improved the erectile function of diabetic rats by up-regulating cavernous cGMP.

     Key words: Diabetes mellitus, erectile dysfunction, NO/cGMP pathway






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