HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA AS A CAUSE OF ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Hyperhomocysteinaemia (elevated blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine) attracted the interest of researchers in the middle of the 20th century. At first. Butz and du Vigneaud in 1932 described a disorder of methionine metabolism in children, which was manifested by homocysteinuria (homocysteine is not normally detected in the urine). In 1962 Cavon and Neil found that homocysteinuria in children is associated with a defect in cystathione-B-synthase and manifests early development of atherosclerosis. It is quite possible that these facts would have remained unnoticed by the medical community had it not been for further research by Kilmer McQuilley, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. The scientist suggested that while high concentrations of homocysteine could damage blood vessels in young people, it was likely that lower concentrations of homocysteine, acting over a longer period of time, could cause cardiovascular disease in adults. Subsequent studies enabled him to formulate the "homocysteine" theory of atherosclerosis and to publish its main points in 1969. Hyperhomocysteinaemia in young men has been shown to cause damage to the endothelium of blood vessels, and consequently males face the consequent equally global problem of developing erectile dysfunction. Erection is a state regulated by a neurovascular process, characterized by blood filling of the cavernous bodies, provided by neural and humoral mechanisms occurring at different levels of the nervous system. Erectile dysfunction (ED) refers to the inability to achieve and maintain an erection at a level necessary to ensure satisfactory sexual intercourse, Although ED is not life-threatening. it is a serious psychological and physiological problem, and it has now been shown to correlate the quality of intimate life with general health and even with life expectancy, In the USA alone, ED is reported in 20-30 million men, and the prevalence of these disorders increases with age. A study of the homocysteine level of multidisciplinary hospital patients was used as the main marker. The work used laboratory and statistical research methods, as well as analysis and synthesis methods. Using patient analyses, laboratory and statistical data, it has been shown that hyperhomosysteinaemia is one of the molecular mechanisms in the development of erectile dysfunction.