Research
Autonomic cerebral vascular response to sildenafil in diabetic patient
Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome 2012, 4:2 doi:10.1186/1758-5996-4-2
Published: 27 January 2012Abstract (provisional)
Background
Erectile dysfunction is a common problem in type 2 diabetic patients who are at higher risk of cerebrovascular events, and it's recorded with sildenafil, a drug which is primarily used for erectile dysfunction. Objectives: We tested the hypothesis whether or not sildenafil modulates cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Methods
A total of 35 male participants were enrolled; eighteen with type 2 diabetes mellitus matched with seventeen normal individuals. Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonographic examination (TCD) was performed for all participants to insonate the middle cerebral artery (MCA) through a trans-temporal window. CVR was assessed by using breath holding (BH)-hyperventilation (HV) test, before and after oral 50mg sildenafil; recordings were analyzed by using SPSS program version 12. Results: In normal individuals, sildenafil did not result in statistically significant change in breath holding index (BHI) from 0.91+/-0.11 to 0.81+/-0.09 and full range of vasodilatation (FVD) from (59.4%+/- 6.3%) to (53.7%+/- 4.9%). In diabetic patients, giving sildenafil resulted in significant increase in BHI (from 0.74+/-0.14 to 1.03+/-0.14) and FVD (from 60.2%+/-4.96% to 74%+/- 4.8%), (p<0.05). Conclusion: Sildenafil significantly improves CVR in type 2 diabetic patients but not in normal subjects.