Erectile dysfunction: Is platelet-rich plasma the new frontier for treatment in patients with erectile dysfunction? A review of the existing evidence

Abstract

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the commonest disorders in adult males and affects 12–19% of men of reproductive age. Only few studies have evaluated the impact of ED on men and couples with infertility—these studies report higher rates of ED in this sub-group of men compared to the general population, with the prevalence of ED in men diagnosed with male infertility ranging from 6.7 to 61.6%. Nevertheless, ED is considered a rare cause of male infertility, accounting for about 0.4–5% of all causes of male infertility. ED remains a poorly treated condition globally and current therapies, like oral medication, offer only temporary symptomatic relief and do not influence disease progression—patients are potentially on lifelong treatment, with ED worsening over time. In contrast, regenerative medicine may potentially reverse or halt the progression of ED processes. In this article, we review the evidence for intracavernosal injections of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of ED.

Insights on Protective Effect of Platelet Rich Plasma and Tadalafil on Testicular Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats Exposed to Testicular Torsion/Detorsion

“…In the pathophysiology of testicular reperfusion injury, endothelial dysfunction secondary to inflammation occurs significantly; so the regenerative PRP treatment in our study is to improve endothelial functions by reducing the E-selectin level. Experimental studies and reviews [70][71][72] demonstrate that the cellular mechanisms of PRP activated in tissue regeneration and healing with improving testicular blood flow by Td coincide with our results.…”

Erectile Dysfunction among Male Infertile Men Attending the Surgical Outpatient Clinic in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria over a 7-Year Period—A Single Surgeon’s Experience

“…In a systematic and meta-analysis by Liu et al, a higher prevalence of ED was noted among infertile men compared to fertile men [17]. Anastasiadis et al reported that ED prevalence ranges from 6.7% to 61.6% for men with infertility [18], while the Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, reported a range of 18%-89% [19]. Yu et al [20] reported a prevalence of 30.6% for ED among infertile men in a cross-sectional study.…”

Is Platelet Rich Plasma a safe and effective treatment in Erectile Dysfunction?

“…Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the persistent or recurrent inability to attain and/or maintain penile erection su cient for sexual satisfaction, including satisfactory sexual performance (1). ED is one of most common diseases in adult male patients, affecting around one in ve (4.3 million men) across the United Kingdom (UK) (2). These numbers will surge by 2025 to an estimated number of 322 million men worldwide, with percentage of about 48%.…”