Gene Transfer Therapy For Erectile Dysfunction

Ukmedix has learnt of a new erectile dysfunction research project undertaken in the United States. The project involved using gene transfer therapy to cure impotence andand is the first time that this has been attempted. At the AGM of The American Urological Association the results were released and the general consensus is that the treatment is safe and really help restore sexual function in the men treated.

Gene transfer therapy has great commercial possibilities because it has practical advantages over the use of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra in that it is doen't require you to take a pill before sexual intercourse. One of the big complaints with erectile dysfunction drugs is that they take as much as half an hour to be effective and thus the sexual urgency and excitement can be lost in that time.

In the clinical test 9 men all of whom suffered from erectile dysfunction were given an injection into their penis of the genetic DNA formulation that consisted of a sub-unit of the potassium channel namely hMaxi-K. Three men were given a 500 microgram dose of hMaxi-K, 3 more were given 1000 micrograms and the last three were given 5000 micrograms.

The testing was done over 26 weeks and over that time no side effects were noted and more importantly no hMaxi-K was found in the semen of the men. The testing at this stage was primarily to see if the injections were safe, but the gene transfer therapy produced big improvements in sexual function especially when the 5000 microgram doses were administered.

This method of treating erectile dysfunction could be the future in impotence treatment and more research and study will be conducted in this regard. Ukmedix will be looking carefully at the results.