Effect of tadalafil in chronic renal failure rabbits: relevance to erectile dysfunction

It is of great importance to investigate an effective and reliable medication against chronic renal failure (CRF)-related erectile dysfunction (ED), which aims to improve patients' life qualities. The concentrations of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in the corpus cavernosal smooth muscle of both CRF and control rabbits were measured. The effects of various concentrations of tadalafil, papaverine, and sodium nitroprusside on the relaxation responses of corpus cavernosal smooth muscle pre-contracted with phenylephrine in CRF rabbits were observed. There was significant difference in the concentration of cGMP between CRF and control rabbits (P<0.01). Tadalafil had the greatest impacts on CRF rabbits when given the same concentration of papaverine or sodium nitroprusside and particularly significant differences were identified under the concentration levels of 10⁻⁵ and 10⁻⁴ mol/L (P<0.01). The results suggest that the cGMP concentrations of the corpus cavernosum had been greatly reduced in CRF rabbits compared with control rabbits and that tadalafil may be an ideal medication for use in the treatment of CRF-related ED.