Versatile effects of sildenafil: recent pharmacological applications.
Journal Title: Pharmacological Reports - Year 2007, Vol 59, Issue 2
Abstract
Sildenafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor and is predominantly used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. While maintaining an excellent safety and tolerability profile in the management of erectile dysfunction, sildenafil also provides a prolonged benefit in various other diseases. Sildenafil has been shown to have a potential therapeutic efficacy for disorders related to the central nervous system and pulmonary system. In the central nervous system, it exerts its neuroprotective effects in multiple sclerosis and has a significant memory enhancing action. Sildenafil also significantly enhances neurogenesis. Several lines of evidence indicate that targeting PDE5 with sildenafil offers novel strategies in the treatment of age-related memory impairment. Guanylate cyclase/cGMP/protein kinase G pathway or glutamate/nitric oxide/cGMP pathway appears to mediate memory enhancing effects. Some of the positive cognitive features of sildenafil therapy are likely attributable to the mechanisms reviewed here. Sildenafil has been shown to reduce pulmonary hypertension and alleviate pain in animals and humans. The present review primarily focuses on the various pharmacological effects of sildenafil with regard to its influence on the nervous and pulmonary system.
Authors and Affiliations
Subramaniam Uthayathas, Senthilkumar Karuppagounder, Bessy Thrash, Kodeeswaran Parameshwaran, Vishnu Suppiramaniam, Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP107523
- DOI -
- Views 110
- Downloads 0
Amifostine improves hemodynamic parameters in doxorubicin-pretreated rabbits.
Amifostine reduces nephrotoxicity and myelotoxicity of alkylating agents. Little is known about its role in preventing cardiotoxicity. We studied if amifostine could affect the hemodynamic parameters in doxorubicin-pretr...
Effect of cocaine sensitization on alpha(1)-adrenoceptors in brain regions of the rat: an autoradiographic analysis.
We investigated the effects of repeated intermittent cocaine treatment, resulting in behavioral sensitization, on the density of alpha(1)-adrenoceptors in the rat brain measured by quantitative in vitro autoradiography o...
Effect of the nutritional supplement ALAnerv® on the serum PON1 activity in post-acute stroke patients.
Background: Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is one of the HDL-associated proteins which contributes to the antioxidant properties of these lipoproteins. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of the nutritional supp...
Neuroprotective effects of MTEP, a selective mGluR5 antagonists and neuropeptide Y on the kainate-induced toxicity in primary neuronal cultures.
The majority of studies on neuroprotection tested potentially protective compounds given before, simultaneously or shortly after damage. Such procedures are greatly different from the situation faced in clinical practice...
Interleukin-1 (IL-1) in stress-induced activation of limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis.
Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) produced during psychological and immunological stress, plays a significant role in the neuroendocrine and stress responses. Brain IL-1 is an important mediator in stress-ind...