Dioxins are endocrine disruptors that may disturb male sexual and reproductive function. Studies on human populations are limited, and their results are controversial. This study evaluated the impact of dioxin exposure on reproductive and thyroid hormone levels and sexual function in men. A total of 140 men working in four military airbases (three bases were formerly contaminated with dioxin by the herbicide spraying campaign in the Vietnam War) were recruited to measure the serum dioxin levels. Four reproductive hormones (testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and prolactin) and three thyroid hormones (free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxin (FT4), and thyroid stimulating hormone) were measured. Male sexual function endpoints including sexual drive, erection, ejaculation, problems, and overall satisfaction were assessed by the Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory. The percentage of subjects with low testosterone and LH levels was 19.6% and 16.7%, respectively. Dioxins, especially 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-P-dioxin and toxic equivalent concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans, were inversely associated with testosterone and prolactin levels, but positively associated with FT3 and FT4, and showed adverse relationships with sexual function, such as sexual drive, problems, and overall satisfaction. Our results suggested that exposure to dioxin disrupts the homeostasis of reproductive and thyroid hormones leading to adverse effects on male sexual function.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effects of calcium oxalate stones and uric acid stones on male sexual function.
METHODS: We enrolled 100 patients with ureteral stones. According to the composition of the stones, they were divided into the calcium oxalate stone group and the uric acid stone group. All patients underwent ureteroscopic holmium laser lithotripsy. General data such as age, body mass index, course of disease, stone diameter, and degree of renal hydronephrosis were compared. Sperm parameters, including sperm density, sperm viability, and sperm deformity rate, as well as International Index of Erectile Function-5 questionnaire (IIEF-5) scores, and Quality of Life (QOL) scores, were measured and compared before and 6 weeks after the surgery.
RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in general data and sperm parameters between the two groups before the surgery (P > 0.05). However, there were significantly lower IIEF scores but significantly higher QOL scores in the uric acid stone group. In the calcium oxalate stone group, there were no statistically significant differences in sperm parameters, IIEF score, and QOL score before and after the surgery (P > 0.05). In the uric acid stone group, there were no statistically significant differences in sperm parameters before and after surgery (P > 0.05), whereas there were significantly higher IIEF scores but significantly lower QOL scores after the surgery (P < 0.05). The prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in the uric acid stone group was 38.18% (21/55), which was significantly higher compared to 20.00% (9/45) in the calcium oxalate stone group (P < 0.05). The multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factor related to ED was uric acid stones (odds ratio: 2.637, 95% confidence interval 1.040-6.689, P = 0.041). No statistically significant differences were found in sperm parameters between patients with and without ED.
CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the calcium oxalate stone group, patients with uric acid stones had a higher prevalence of ED and poorer sexual performance.

UNASSIGNED: This cross-sectional study aimed to compare the sexual function (SF) and pelvic floor function of men with systemic sclerosis (SSc) with age-matched healthy controls (HC) and to identify the implications of clinical features on SF.
UNASSIGNED: Twenty SSc males and 20 HC aged 18-70 years completed eleven questionnaires assessing SF [International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Male Sexual Health Questionnaire (MSHQ)]; sexual quality of life: Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Male (SQoL-M); pelvic floor function: Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-Short Form 7 (PFIQ-7), fatigue, depression, physical fitness, functional disability, and quality of life. Clinical data were collected.
UNASSIGNED: Significantly worse SF was observed in patients (median IIEF erectile function 12 in SSc versus 29 in HC, p < 0.001), with 70% reporting erectile dysfunction (ED) compared to 15% in HC. However, no significant difference was observed regarding pelvic floor function (median PFIQ7 8.8 in SSc versus 7.0 in HC, p = 0.141). Impaired SF was associated with higher disease activity, increased systemic inflammation, more pronounced fatigue, reduced physical fitness, severe depression, impaired overall quality of life, dyspepsia, and arthralgias (p < 0.05 for all).
UNASSIGNED: Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in our SSc patients, whereas pelvic floor dysfunction is unlikely to be associated with these problems.

暂无摘要。

Sexual dysfunction, in particular erectile dysfunction, is a common complaint among aging men. Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and smoking are shown to be independent risk factors for erectile dysfunction, while cardiorespiratory fitness is shown to be protective. Less is known about the role of muscle strength in male sexual function. Our objective was to study the association between male sexual function and typical cardiovascular risk factors, together with exercise and muscle strength. We included data from the fourth wave of the RHINE study. Data on anthropometrics, exercise habits, diseases, muscle strength, and sexual function were collected using questionnaires, including the Aging Males\' Symptoms (AMS) scale. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to measure the association between sexual function and body mass index (BMI), age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, exercise and muscle strength status. We included 2116 men aged 48-75 from four Nordic-Baltic countries. BMI, age, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension were found to be associated with higher odds of reporting decreased sexual function, while reporting intact muscle strength was associated with lower odds. In a large Nordic-Baltic male study population, we show that known cardiovascular risk factors are associated with decreased sexual function, while reporting intact muscle strength is associated with lower odds of reporting decreased sexual function.

The neuropeptidergic mechanisms controlling socio-sexual behaviours consist of complex neuronal circuitry systems in widely distributed areas of the brain and spinal cord. At the organismal level, it is now becoming clear that \"hormonal regulations\" play an important role, in addition to the activation of neuronal circuits. The gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) system in the lumbosacral spinal cord is an important component of the neural circuits that control penile reflexes in rats, circuits that are commonly referred to as the \"spinal ejaculation generator (SEG).\" Oxytocin, long known as a neurohypophyseal hormone, is now known to be involved in the regulation of socio-sexual behaviors in mammals, ranging from social bonding to empathy. However, the functional interaction between the SEG neurons and the hypothalamo-spinal oxytocin system remains unclear. Oxytocin is known to be synthesised mainly in hypothalamic neurons and released from the posterior pituitary into the circulation. Oxytocin is also released from the dendrites of the neurons into the hypothalamus where they have important roles in social behaviours via non-synaptic volume transmission. Because the most familiar functions of oxytocin are to regulate female reproductive functions including parturition, milk ejection, and maternal behaviour, oxytocin is often thought of as a \"feminine\" hormone. However, there is evidence that a group of parvocellular oxytocin neurons project to the lower spinal cord and control male sexual function in rats. In this report, we review the functional interaction between the SEG neurons and the hypothalamo-spinal oxytocin system and effects of these neuropeptides on male sexual behaviour. Furthermore, we discuss the finding of a recently identified, localised \"volume transmission\" role of oxytocin in the spinal cord. Findings from our studies suggest that the newly discovered \"oxytocin-mediated spinal control of male sexual function\" may be useful in the treatment of erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction.

UNASSIGNED: Posterior urethral injuries in men commonly occur following pelvic and perineal trauma. Erectile dysfunction (ED), whether brought on by the severity of the initial trauma or the surgery itself, is one of the complications in these patients.
UNASSIGNED: In this study, we divided candidates of posterior urethroplasty due to traumatic urethral injury into intervention and placebo groups; the former received continuous treatment with tadalafil (10 mg daily), and the latter received a placebo. Other services were provided equally to both groups. Before and after the intervention, both groups completed the International Index of Erectile Function version 5 (IIEF-5) questionnaire, and the findings were analyzed.
UNASSIGNED: Forty patients were studied in groups of 20 with a mean age of 43.87 ± 15.70 years. The patient\'s most common cause of urethral injury was a pelvic fracture. Before the intervention, the mean scores of IIEF for patients in the intervention group and placebo group were 14.85 ± 7.39 and 14.77 ± 6.48, respectively with no statistical significance (p = 0.962) and patients of the groups were similar in terms of the severity of ED. The mean IIEF score in the intervention group was 20.12 ± 4.94 and in the placebo group, it was 18.05 ± 4.88 at the three-month follow-up, with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.063). In both the intervention and placebo groups, the IIEF score was significantly increased by 5.27 ± 4.04 (p < 0.001) and 3.27 ± 2.97 (p < 0.001), respectively. The rate of IIEF increase in the intervention group was higher than in the placebo group during the follow-up at 3-month follow-up with statistical significance. (p = 0.022).
UNASSIGNED: The findings of this study suggest that tadalafil, in a 3-month treatment course, may improve erectile function in individuals with mild-to-moderate ED, significantly more than placebo. However, more studies, specifically with longer duration of follow-up and larger populations, are necessary for generalizing the current findings.

In today\'s society, people are subjected to many social stressors, and excessive chronic stress causes functional disruption of the neuroendocrine system and many diseases. Although the exacerbation of atopic dermatitis with symptoms of itching and erectile dysfunction is induced by chronic stress, the details of the mechanisms are unknown. Here, we examined the effects of chronic stress on itch sensation and male sexual function at the behavioral and molecular levels, focusing on two distinct gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) systems that independently regulate itch transmission, i.e., the somatosensory GRP system, and male sexual function, i.e., the lumbosacral autonomic GRP system, in the spinal cord. In a rat model of chronic stress induced by chronic corticosterone (CORT) administration, we observed increased plasma CORT concentrations, decreased body weight, and increased anxiety-like behavior, similar to that observed in humans. Chronic CORT exposure induced hypersensitivity to itch and increased the Grp mRNA level in the spinal somatosensory system, but there was no change in pain or tactile sensitivity. Antagonists of the somatosensory GRP receptor, an itch-specific mediator, suppressed itch hypersensitivity induced by chronic CORT exposure. In contrast, chronic CORT exposure decreased male sexual behavior, ejaculated semen volume, vesicular gland weight, and plasma testosterone levels. However, there were no effects on the expression of Grp mRNA or protein in the lumbosacral autonomic GRP system, which regulates male sexual function. In summary, chronic stress model rats showed itch hypersensitivity and impaired sexual function in males, and the involvement of the spinal GRP systems was apparent in itch hypersensitivity.

This article reviews the role of testosterone in normal male sexual anatomic development and function, the consequences of low testosterone on sexual function, and clinical standards for health care providers treating hypogonadal men with sexual dysfunction.

UNASSIGNED: The issue of infertility is a worldwide challenge, estimated to affect around 50 million couples. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between infertility stress and sexual function in men and women with infertility.
UNASSIGNED: In this cross-sectional study, 300 men and women with infertility were recruited. A demographic questionnaire, the Fertility Problem Inventory, the Female Sexual Function Scale (FSFI), and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) were used to collect data. Independent t-test, Chi-square, and linear and logistic regressions were used to assess the data.
UNASSIGNED: The total score of sexual function in women and men was 22.18 ± 7.86 and 57.7 ± 17.8, respectively. Infertility duration and the ability to pay for the costs of infertility treatment had a significant relationship with sexual function in women. A significant association was found between communication concerns and sexual function scores in men with infertility. Infertile women had more sexual concerns, while infertile men had more communication concerns.
UNASSIGNED: This study showed that women with infertility had more infertility stress than men with infertility. Women with higher infertility duration and the inability to pay for the infertility treatment costs impaired sexual function. Women with infertility had more sexual concerns, while Men with infertility had more communication concerns. Policymakers need to consider strategies such as counseling for men and women with infertility to help them cope with their problems, especially their psychological problems. The lack of random enrollment of participants and lack of control group were the limitations of this study.