Some recent findings on a drug being developed for ED – alagebrium (more evidence that the future of ED treatments will be combination therapy (multiple drugs/mechanisms of action): (LINK)

Int J Impot Res. 2012 May-Jun;24(3):114-21. doi: 10.1038/ijir.2011.54. Epub 2011 Dec 29.

Therapeutic effect of combination of alagebrium (ALT-711) and sildenafil on erectile function in diabetic rats.

Gurbuz N, Sagdic G, Sanli A, Ciftcioglu A, Bassorgun I, Baykal A, Usta MF.

Source

Department of Biochemistry, Akdeniz University, School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey.

Abstract

Recently, the relationship between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and erectile dysfunction (ED) has been reported. The present study aimed to investigate whether a combination of an AGE cross-link breaker (alagebrium/ALT-711) and sildenafil could enhance the erectile capacity in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. Additionally, we assessed the effect of that treatment option on some molecules that have been suggested to have crucial roles in AGE-related ED pathways. Four groups of animals were utilized: (1) age-matched control rats, (2) STZ-induced diabetic rats (40 mg kg(-1) i.p.), (3) STZ rats+sildenafil (5 mg kg(-1) p.o.), (4) STZ rats treated with a combination of sildenafil (5 mg kg(-1) p.o)+alagebrium/ALT-711 (10 mg kg(-1) p.o.) for the final 1 month of the 2 months of diabetes period. At 2 months after i.p. injection of STZ, all animals underwent cavernosal nerve stimulation (CNS) to assess erectile function. Penile tissue AGEs, MDA (malondialdehyde), cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) (ELISA), endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS), inducible NO synthase (iNOS) (western blot), nuclear factor (NF)-κB, mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (immunohistochemistry) and apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling) analyses were performed in all groups of rats. STZ diabetic rats had a significant decrease in erectile function as determined by the peak intracavernosal pressure (ICP) and total ICP (area under the erectile curve) after CNS when compared with control rats.