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Is There a Relationship between Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Erectile Dysfunction in Egyptian Males?

Olfat G Shaker, Ashraf H Fayez and Ihab A Osman

We investigated the potential association between endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism and erectile dysfunction (ED). The study was carried on 60 males with ED. All patients were subjected to medical and sexual history taking including the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) questionnaire, general and genital examination and combined injection and stimulation test (ICI). Patients with a negative response were evaluated through a penile dynamic duplex to clarify the etiology of ED. eNOS genotype polymorphism was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP). The mean age of patients was 49.7 years and mean ED history duration was 3.45 years. The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension were 51.7% and 16.7%, respectively. The main cause of ED in the studied cases was venoocclusive (43.3%), the least common was the arteriogenic (20%). A psychogenic etiology was present in the remaining 37.7%of patients. The most common eNOS genotype was GG(46.7%), followed byGT (43.3%), then TT (10%). There was significant correlation between the grade of ED and eNOS genotype. eNOS gene polymorphism might contribute to the genetic susceptibility to ED. However, this link needs to be confirmed in larger studies.