[Advances in studies of Chinese herbs for improving relaxability of corporal smooth muscle]

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a commonly and frequently encountered disease among middle-aged and old males. The traditional Chinese medicine has a long history of medical treatment for ED has been focusing too much on clinical experience researches, without obtaining sufficient evidence for the curative effect of related traditional medicines. Recently, with important breakthroughs the researches on the molecular biochemical mechanisms of erection, sildenafil(Viagra), a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor, has been developed, and exciting progress achieved in the treatment of ED with Chinese herbal medicine and the presentation of the pharmacological mechanism. This article presents an overview on recent advances in the studies of ED treatment with traditional Chinese medicine.