Valsartan treatment reverses erectile dysfunction in diabetic rats

In order to investigate the effect of angiotensin receptor blockage (ARB) for the treatment on diabetic erectile dysfunction (ED), we used male Sprague-Dawley rats injected with 65 mg/kg streptozotocin to induce diabetes mellitus. The diabetic rats with ED were selected by hypodermic injection of apomorphine (APO) after 8 weeks of model setting. All rats were divided into four groups: G1 (normal control rats), G2 (diabetic rats treated with normal saline), G3 (diabetic rats treated with valsartan) and G4 (diabetic rats treated with spironolactone). After treatment with drugs for 8 weeks, the rate of erection for each group was evaluated after the injection of APO. The intracavernous pressure (ICP) of each rat was then recorded before and after the electrostimulation of the major pelvic ganglion. The rates of erection and the ICP after electrostimulation for diabetic rats treated with valsartan were significantly higher than that in diabetic rats treated with normal saline and spironolactone. The ARB may be an effective therapy for diabetics with ED.