Trial reportThe Journal of clinical investigation2022
Melanocortin 4 receptor agonism enhances sexual brain processing in women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04179734 (Physiological Study to Determine the Role of the Melanocortin-4 Receptor in Brain Activity in Women With Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Physiological Study to Determine the Role of the Melanocortin-4 Receptor in Brain Activity in Women With Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- The melanocortin receptors as targets for general obesity: contextualizing clinical failures and analyzing future perspectives.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Review
- The Neuroendocrine Regulation of Reproductive Behavior and Emotional Control by Kisspeptin.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
- Female Syrian hamster analyses of bremelanotide, a US FDA approved drug for the treatment of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- Women and men with distressing low sexual desire exhibit sexually dimorphic brain processing.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Care for breast cancer survivors in Asian countries: A review of sexual dysfunction.Women's health (London, England)Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUNDHypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is characterized by a persistent deficiency of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity, causing marked distress and interpersonal difficulty. It is the most prevalent female sexual health problem globally, affecting approximately 10% of women, but has limited treatment options. Melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) agonists have emerged as a promising therapy for women with HSDD, through unknown mechanisms. Studying the pathways involved is crucial for our understanding of normal and abnormal sexual behavior.METHODSUsing psychometric, functional neuroimaging, and hormonal analyses, we conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical study to assess the effects of MC4R agonism compared with placebo on sexual brain processing in 31 premenopausal heterosexual women with HSDD.RESULTSMC4R agonism significantly increased sexual desire for up to 24 hours after administration compared with placebo. During functional neuroimaging, MC4R agonism enhanced cerebellar and supplementary motor area activity and deactivated the secondary somatosensory cortex, specifically in response to visual erotic stimuli, compared with placebo. In addition, MC4R agonism enhanced functional connectivity between the amygdala and the insula during visual erotic stimuli compared with placebo.CONCLUSIONThese data suggest that MC4R agonism enhanced sexual brain processing by reducing self-consciousness, increasing sexual imagery, and sensitizing women with HSDD to erotic stimuli. These findings provide mechanistic insight into the action of MC4R agonism in sexual behavior and are relevant to the ongoing development of HSDD therapies and MC4R agonist development more widely.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT04179734.FUNDINGThis is an investigator-sponsored study funded by AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Medical Research Council (MRC) (MR/T006242/1), and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (CS-2018-18-ST2-002 and RP-2014-05-001).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.