TCAS 07. Aging and erectile dysfunction

Aging is one of the main risk factors for erectile dysfunction. Various studies showed that 10% of men over 35 ys reported erectile dysfunction (ED) and 25% occasional ED. However, after the age of 70 y, this percentage climbs to 75%. Furthermore, older individuals desire to love and enjoy sexual activity in relation to personal circumstances when health status allows them to experience close relations. As the proportion of old population become larger, more attention has been given to the quality of elders' life.

The mechanism of aging-related ED is still not clear, main cause include endothelial dysfunction, testosterone deficiency and some diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes. PDE5 inhibitor and testosterone are the two most common medicines for aging-related ED, but their therapeutic effects have limitation. New therapy method is needed.

Recent years, lots of theories about aging have been proposed, such as Free radical theory, Telomere theory, genetic program theory. Most of them have been used in the research of agingrelated ED, and it shows that aging is a direct risk factor for ED. Anti-aging treatment may be helpful in aging-related ED, such as physical exercise, healthy diet, control of blood glucose, lipids and blood pressure.

The research of anti-aging gene is another useful way which attracts more attention recent years. With the help of gene technology, the gene which encode protein of endotheliumderived NO synthase (eNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), have been used for the treatment of ED. Therefore, anti-aging gene may also be used for the treatment of aging-related ED.

Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) is the member of silent information regulator (Sir) gene family, which has important function in the regulation of life span. We have done some basic research about the function of SIRT1 in the aging-related ED and it shows that SIRT1 may be a new target for the treatment of aging-related ED.