Hypothalamus may be involved in psychogenic erectile dysfunction.
- Author:
Tao WANG
1
;
Bo LIU
;
Zhi-Jian WU
;
Bo YANG
;
Ji-Hong LIU
;
Jun-Kai WANG
;
Shao-Gang WANG
;
Wei-Min YANG
;
Zhang-Qun YE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Clinical Trial
- MeSH: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Audiovisual Aids; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; pharmacokinetics; Humans; Hypothalamus; diagnostic imaging; metabolism; physiopathology; Male; Photic Stimulation; Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological; diagnostic imaging; metabolism; physiopathology; Tomography, Emission-Computed
- From: National Journal of Andrology 2008;14(7):602-605
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo study the changes of hypothalamus metabolism in patients with psychogenic erectile dysfunction (ED) so as to get some clues to the possible pathogenic factors and pathophysiological mechanism of the problem.
METHODSSix cases of psychogenic ED and 4 normal volunteers were studied by positron emission tomography (PET) for the characteristics of hypothalamus glucose metabolism. Following audiovisual sexual stimulation, the concentration of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (18 F-FDG) was determined and the ratio of the left (right) hypothalamus count to the cerebrum count was calculated.
RESULTSAudiovisual sexual stimulation significantly increased 18F-FDG in the volunteers (left: 1.026 +/- 0.115 vs 2.400 +/- 0.210; right: 1.003 +/- 0.187 vs 2.389 +0.196, P < 0.05) as compared with the psychogenic ED patients (left: 2.781 +/- 0.156 vs 2.769 +/- 0.223; right: 2.809 +/- 0.129 vs 2.793 +/- 0.217, P > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONPsychogenic ED may not be simply a functional disease; the hypothalamus may be involved in the pathophysiology of the problem.
