ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2023
A drug target for erectile dysfunction to help improve fertility, sexual activity, and wellbeing: mendelian randomisation study.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrating genetic data with biological insight: A practical guide to cis-Mendelian randomization.American journal of human genetics · 2026Review
- Sexual distress in patients after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer: a qualitative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of neuropsychiatric disease: a drug target Mendelian randomisation study.npj women's health · 2026Article
- Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibition and Alzheimer's Disease Risk: A Mendelian Randomisation Study.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Human genetics implicate thromboembolism in the pathogenesis of long COVID in individuals of European ancestry.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- Genetic insights into causal effects of lipids and lipid-modifying targets on calcific aortic valve stenosis: a Mendelian randomized study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Identifying therapeutic targets for erectile dysfunction in the European population using genome-wide Mendelian randomization.Sexual medicine · 2025Article
- Causal Relationship Between Serum Uric Acid and Atherosclerotic Disease: A Mendelian Randomization and Transcriptomic Analysis.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- The critical role of PDGFRa + Sca1 + fibroblasts in angiogenesis and vascular repair in the corpus cavernosum.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Genetically Proxied Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5) Inhibition and Risk of Dementia: A Drug Target Mendelian Randomization Study.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Causal effect of three autoimmune diseases on brain functional networks and cerebrospinal fluid metabolites to underlie the pathogenesis of autoimmune psychosis: a two-sample mendelian randomization analysis.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Investigating potential drug targets for the treatment of glioblastoma: a Mendelian randomization study.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Risk associated circulating biomarkers S100A3 identified in congenital heart disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.Intractable & rare diseases research · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Genetic factors associated with erectile dysfunction- mendelian randomisation analysis.American journal of clinical and experimental urology · 2025Article
- The associations among platelet count, mean platelet volume, and erectile dysfunction: an observational and Mendelian randomization study.Sexual medicine · 2024Article
- Multi-omics analysis reveals the role of the autophagy-related gene AGT in chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer and the therapeutic potential of its inhibitors.Discover oncology · 2024Article
- Review
- A comprehensive assessment of the association between common drugs and psychiatric disorders using Mendelian randomization and real-world pharmacovigilance database.EBioMedicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the association of genetically proxied (using a surrogate biomarker) inhibition of phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), an established drug target for erectile dysfunction, with fertility, sexual behaviour, and subjective wellbeing.
designTwo sample cis-mendelian randomisation study.
settingSummary data on genetic associations obtained from the International Consortium for Blood Pressure and UK Biobank.
participantsIndividuals of European ancestry from the International Consortium for Blood Pressure (n=757 601) for estimating PDE5 inhibition (using the surrogate biomarker of diastolic blood pressure reduction), and UK Biobank (n=211 840) for estimating the fertility, sexual behaviour, and subjective wellbeing outcomes in male participants.
interventionGenetically proxied PDE5 inhibition.
main outcome measuresNumber of children fathered, number of sexual partners, probability of never having had sexual intercourse, and subjective wellbeing.
resultsGenetically proxied PDE5 inhibition was associated with male participants having 0.28 (95% confidence interval 0.16 to 0.39) more children (false discovery rate corrected P<0.001). This association was not identified in female participants. No evidence was found of an association between genetically proxied PDE5 inhibition and number of sexual partners, probability of never having had sexual intercourse, or self-reported wellbeing in male participants.
conclusionsThe findings of this study provide genetic support for PDE5 inhibition potentially increasing the number of children fathered by male individuals. Absence of this association in female participants supports increased propensity for sustained and robust penile erections as a potential underlying mechanism. Further studies are required to confirm this, however, and these findings should not promote indiscriminate use of PDE5 inhibitors, which can also have harmful adverse effects.
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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.