Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a number of conditions, including elevated blood pressure, excess body fat around the waist and insulin resistance.
Many patients with these conditions also exhibit endothelial dysfunction with increases in oxidative stress and decreases in nitric oxide production ? which has been related to erectile dysfunction (ED).
Researchers from France explored whether treatment with sildenafil ? a common pharmacologic treatment for ED ? could improve endothelial dysfunction in a rat model.
Researchers administered sildenafil to fructose-fed rats to achieve plasma concentrations known to give efficacy in men and observed endothelial function and oxidative stress in the animals during treatment and one-week after treatment had been stopped. It was observed that chronic sildenafil treatment improved endothelial function and oxidative stress, suggesting that this treatment could be a benefit for cardiovascular indications as well as erectile dysfunction.