Is this drug an aphrodisiac for women? It is for female rats, say scientists

Main Category: Erectile Dysfunction / Premature Ejaculation
Article Date: 29 Jun 2004 - 21:00 PST


A drug which is being developed to fight impotence in men seems to arouse female rats, say scientists in North America. The drug is called PT-141 and belongs to Palatin Technologies Inc.

The scientists said "PT-141 may be the first identified pharmacological agent with the capability to treat female sexual desire disorders."

You can read about the findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers tried the drug on female rats and said it had a 'significant' effect on the animals' mating behaviour. The scientists are from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, led by James Pfaus, and scientists from Palatin Inc.

When they injected the female rats with PT-141 they became much more 'flirtatious' and sexually interested in the male rats. In fact, many of them started mounting the males. This kind of behaviour (mounting) is a sign in rats that they are becoming sexually frustrated and want to hurry things up.

James Pfaus said "Although the sexual behavior of rats is different from that of humans, the effects of pharmacological manipulations of appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviors are similar in male rates and men." They added that most probably, the same applies to females (rats and humans).

The drug is being developed as a nasal spray for male erectile dysfunction. It is a melanocortin, the first of its kind for erectile dysfunction. It does not affect the blood vessels, this could be useful for patients who are on drugs for heart disease.

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