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Erythrocyte aldose reductase correlates with erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients

Abstract

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Erythrocyte aldose reductase (AR) has been implicated in a variety of diabetic complications. The subjects were 62 diabetic patients, of whom 25 were treated with hemodialysis (chronic renal failure CRF group) and the remaining 37 did not have chronic renal failure (DM group). The controls were 20 healthy volunteers age-matched to the patients. The level of AR was measured by the quantitative determination kit for AR in all patients and controls. In this study, ED was diagnosed by 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5). The average level of AR in the CRF group was significantly higher than that in the DM group and controls (P<0.001). The average level of AR in the DM group without ED was significantly lower than that in the DM group with ED and controls (P<0.005). These results suggest that the level of AR may be a useful modality for prediction of ED in diabetic patients.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr M Maegawa and Dr M Kondo for assistance, with the IIEF-5 questionnaire and measurement of AR in male dialysis patients.

Some of the results in this paper were presented at the 9th World Meeting on Impotence Research held in Perth, Western Australia, in November 2000 and at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association held in Anaheim, California in June 2001.

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Correspondence to Y Mizutani.

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Naya, Y., Soh, J., Ochiai, A. et al. Erythrocyte aldose reductase correlates with erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients. Int J Impot Res 14, 213–216 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijir.3900855

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