Tadalafil 5 mg Daily Treatment for Type 1 Diabetic Premenopausal Women Affected by Sexual Genital Arousal Disorder

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Type 1 diabetic women may be affected by sexual dysfunction, mainly due to peripheral vascular disease. AIM: To determine whether daily tadalafil 5 mg is effective in type 1 premenopausal women affected by sexual genital arousal disorder. METHOD: Thirty-three volunteers were enrolled in a 12-week daily tadalafil 5 mg prospective study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The efficacy of daily tadalafil 5 mg on sexual genital arousal (primary end point), and desire, orgasm, enjoyment and frequency of sexual activity, and genital pain (secondary end points) were assessed (i) subjectively by the Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire; and (ii) objectively by translabial color Doppler sonography of clitoral blood flow. Moreover, the Short Form-36 questionnaire was used to assess Quality of Life (QoL). RESULTS: Thirty-two women completed the study. Women reported a QoL improvement at the 12th week follow-up (P<0.05). Tadalafil improved the experience of sexual genital arousal, and orgasm, sexual enjoyment, satisfaction by frequency of sexual activity, and frequency of sexual thoughts or fantasies (P<0.05). Finally, dyspareunia decreased with respect to baseline (P<0.001). After tadalafil administration, the mean peak systolic velocity increased and the mean diastolic velocity decreased from baseline (P<0.001). Moreover, the mean resistance index and the mean pulsatility index were significantly higher compared with baseline values (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Daily tadalafil 5 mg treatment seems to improve subjective sexual aspects and could be used to treat genital arousal disorder of premenopausal women with type 1 diabetes. The limits of the study were the small sample and the lack of a placebo control group.