ORIGINAL RESEARCH-BASIC SCIENCE: Enhancement of Both EDHF and NO/cGMP Pathways Is Necessary to Reverse Erectile Dysfunction in Diabetic Rats

These findings emphasize the importance of NO/cGMP and EDHF pathways for normal erectile function. They also give support to the in vitro observation that diabetes impairs NO and EDHF‐dependent responses, precluding the complete recovery of erectile function with PDE5 inhibitors and explaining the relatively poor clinical response of diabetic men with ED to PDE5 inhibition. Finally, our study suggests that a pharmacological approach that combines enhancement of NO/cGMP and EDHF pathways could be necessary to treat ED in many diabetic men.